A Sister's Tale The Prisoner of Azkaban
by GregsMadHatter
Summary: A murderous killer has escaped from Azkaban and has sought revenge on the two people who stopped Voldemort. Due to events, Elliot is finally told who she really is and what really happened Halloween night. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

AUNT PETUNIA (O

**Title: A Sister's Tale: The Prisoner of Azkaban**

**Summary: A murderous killer has escaped from Azkaban and has sought revenge on the two people who stopped Voldemort. Due to events, Elliot is finally told who she really is and what really happened Halloween night. Meanwhile, Rachel and Amanda hold back a secret when they mysteriously show up in classes with Hermione. FredOC RonOC GeorgeOC AU Part 3 of the A Sister's Tale series.**

**Spoilers: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban**

**Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter, but I own Elliot, Rachel and Amanda.**

**Chapter 1**

The summer had been one of the finest yet. Thanks to the Ministry, we, meaning the Weasleys, Rachel, Amanda and myself, had all gone to Egypt. It was bloody brilliant! there were tombs and mummies…and mayhem, of course. Not going into too much detail, let's just say that the mummies had the best time of their afterlives that unfortunately, I had to be a part of. When we had returned, Felix had delivered an envelope filled with permission forms to go to Hogsmeade. Mrs. Weasley signed everyone's, but when I handed her mine, she said, "No! Absolutely not! I can barley keep you behaving yourself here and at school. If you think for one second that I can trust you in Hogsmeade, you're wrong."

"But you signed everyone elses! Hell, you signed Fred and Georges!"

"But they didn't run through the tombs in Egypt full of Inferi and started boxing them because they were not allowed to use magic because they are underage!"

I gave a small smirk, remembering the enjoyment I had beating their non-existant brains to a pulp. Of course, that didn't sit too well with Mrs. Weasley, and she shook her finger at me and went to prepare breakfast. But it didn't stop there. As soon as we were all sitting around the table, Mr. Weasley made an announcement. "I have just received a letter back and all of you are going to spend a week with Harry at the Dursleys."

"WHAT!" we all shouted in unison as we choked on our food.

"The Dursleys hate magic!" stated Rachel.

"And anything that has to do with magic," I finished.

"Do you know how selfish you sound? Instead of thinking of how happy Harry wil. be to see you, you're more worried on how the Dursleys will treat you," replied Mrs. Weasley.

She was right, of course. I hate it when she's right. Under my breath, I replied, "Fine."

"Excellent! Now, starting next week, Rachel and Amanda will go first. The following week will be Elliot and Ron."

"But, that means I'll be spending my birthday with the Dursleys!" I cried, counting the weeks on my fingers.

"I'm sorry dear, but that is the order. The Dursleys have already set that system up. Now then, eat up. I'm sure you're all very hungry."

--oOo--

Before the week started when Rachel and Amanda were to go to the Dursley's, the six of us decided to play three-on-three Quidditch for some kicks and giggles. Ron, Fred and I were on one team while Rachel, Amanda and George were on the other. Almost every time we played, I caught the Snitch. The only times I didn't was when Rachel almost swallowed it and Ron caught it instead of the Quaffle. Too bad Harry was the Seeker on the team because that was a fun position. Playing Quidditch is what the six of us did most of the time so that we could spend as much time as we could before we were split from each other and sent to the Dursley's. Ooh! Just thinking about it makes my spine shiver. Oh, why us?

--oOo--

That next week, Amanda and Rachel bid their good-byes and disappeared into the fireplace. When they had just left, Fred and George walked away, leaving Ron and I alone. Amanda, Rachel and I had never been apart since last year when Amanda and Hermione were petrified. As I stared at the green flames that were slowly dying away, Ron placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be find. She had Fred."

"It's not that, it's…" but I never got to finish my sentence. From behind us came the sound of someone clearing their throat. Ron and I turned around to see Fred and George smiling at us. "This is not what it looks like," I said hastily.

"Sure it isn't," smiled Fred.

"Come on, let's go play some two-on-two Quidditch," smiled George.

Now, two-on-two Quidditch was much more difficult than three-on-three. That's because I was stuck with Ron and he had to play keeper-slash-chaser and I had to play chaser-slash-seeker. Luckily, there were no Bludgers, otherwise we would have been toast. Apart from playing Quidditch, me and the three boys would sneak into the kitchen at night and get snacks when Mrs. Weasley wasn't looking. In fact, one night, Fred and George showed me this thing they made that made a sound like someone snoring, just in case Mrs. Weasley decided to check on us while we were eating. It was quite fun. But the week went by in a hurry, and before I knew it, Amanda and Rachel were back, meaning that Ron and I were off to see Harry. I was all ready to go when I noticed that Ron was no where to be found. "Where the bloody hell is Ron?" I asked.

"He is not feeling too well, dear, so you'll just have to go on without him," replied Mrs. Weasley.

"What? Oh no, no, no…" but I couldn't finish my raving because Rachel pushed me into the green flames to the Dursley's. I felt myself being pulled through the vortex and landing in the living room of Number Four Privet Drive. Harry was already standing there with his black hair still in a mess and his green eyes staring down at me. "Hello Elliot. It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, Harry," I replied as I brushed the soot off of my clothes and offered Harry's outstretched hand to help me up. "Where's Ron?" Harry asked.

"Ah, well, you see…funny story, actually. Well, er, you see, Harry, Ron…er, has decided now is a good time to, how do I put this delicately…er, fall ill?"

"Sounds like Ron." Harry and I laughed when a scream and a clatter caught my attention. Harry and I turned to see a very lanky woman staring at me with horror. And just like that, things began to get a bit strange at the Dursley's.

TBC…

**Please R&R!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

After I had heard the scream Harry and I turned to see a very lanky woman starring at me with horror. Introducing her, Harry said, "This is Aunt Petunia. Aunt Petunia, this is…"

"Elliot," she muttered.

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

But before she could answer, a fat man came stumbling in. "Petunia dear, what the…Great Scot!"

"Uncle Vernon, this is…"

"I know bloody well who this is. I thought you said that she lived in New York!" he grumbled.

Before I could ask, Harry pulled me up the stairs, knapsack in hand, to Harry's room. As soon as Harry closed the door, my owl Felix, came flying through the window carrying a letter from Ron. "What is it, Felix?" I asked as I pulled the letter from her.

After I opened the envelope, Felix perched herself upon my shoulder, hooting excitedly. From Ron's handwriting, I read:

**Elliot,**

**This just came in from Dumbledore. I didn't open it, in case you were wondering. Hope you have fun at Harry's.**

**Ron**

"Bloody wanker," I muttered under my breath as I opened the second envelope addressed in Dumbledore's fine handwriting. The letter read:

**Dear Ms. Potter,**

**No, there is no mistake. I was going to wait to tell you this when you were older, but with the events being what it is, I think now is a better time than any. Your father and mother's names were James and Lily Potter. They had twins whom they named Harry James Potter and Elliot Lily Potter. When Voldemort came to your house, you were with James. Voldemort went to kill you, only James stepped in front of you, blocking the curse. Then, Voldemort shot the curse at you, but because of James sacrificed himself for you; the curse only rendered you unconscious. Voldemort thought he had killed you, but you weakened him so that when he went to kill Harry, he didn't succeed. If you don't believe me, look into the mirror at your forehead and compare your red album that Hagrid gave you after your first year with Harry's.**

**Sincerely,**

**Albus Dumbledore**

**Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

I was frozen to the spot. I could not believe what I had just read. So Tom Riddle was right…my name was Elliot Lily Potter. I couldn't believe it! "What is it?" asked Harry.

Instead of answering, I ran over to the mirror, threw off my baseball hat and pushed aside my bangs. Sure enough, there was a lightning bolt scar. I was stunned. "Elliot, is that…is that a scar?"

I couldn't control myself. What I mean is, my reply wasn't all that coherent. It sounded like, "Ica ntba leveth ati amyour twinsisteran dvolde mortwa sighti nthech amberofsec restlasyeari meanwatar amandanrachlnronnfredngeorgeg oingtos aywendeyf indoutand…"

"Hold on Elliot, slow down! Say that again."

This time, I was speechless. "Uh…here, sit down and take a deep breath."

Harry guided me over and sat me on his bed. As he rubbed my back, I said calmly, "I can't believe that…oh my God…I can't believe that I am your twin sister and Voldemort was right in the trap door and the Chamber of Secrets last year. I mean, what are Amanda and Rachel and Ron and Fred and George going to say when they find out and everyone at Hogwarts?"

If I had my camera with me, I would have taken a picture of Harry's face. It was priceless. "Wait, so…?"

"We're the boy AND girl who lived," I finished.

"So that's why Aunt Petunia knew you. Wait until Aunt Marge…oh no."

"What?"

"Aunt Marge is staying wit us this week. In order to get my Hogsmeade slip signed, I have to be good."

"Well, at least you might be able to go. Mrs. Weasley refused to sign mine because of something I did in Egypt."

From that moment on, Harry and I became even closer, even with that wench in the same house. Most of the time, we retreated to Harry's room so we could at least have some peach. During that week, I learned that Harry and I were more alike than anything else. Before we knew it, we were finishing each other sentences. Finally, Harry and my birthday rolled around, as did Aunt Marge's day to leave and my time to go back to the Burrow. I, of course, couldn't leave until Aunt Marge left so that I wouldn't expose myself. That morning, Harry and I celebrated our birthday in Harry's room so we could, at least, get some enjoyment. But the celebration was cut short when Aunt Petunia's voice shrieked, "Get down here for supper!"

When we reached the bottom floor, I saw the fat old lump waiting for us to serve her fat, pig face. Of course, I behaved myself. I didn't want to get Harry in trouble and not allow him to go to Hogsmeade. Well, the dinner went smoothly, which, of course, was always a good thing. But Aunt Marge had a bit too much to drink and she was the reason for the following events. You see, Harry and I were clearing away the dishes when Aunt Marge asked, "What did their father do, Petunia?"

"Nothing, he was unemployed."

"Probably a drunk too, no doubt."

My blood began to boil. "That's lie," I gritted.

"What was that?" asked Aunt Marge.

"Our father was not a drunk!" I shouted as I spun around to look at her. Suddenly, the glass Aunt Marge was holding shattered into pieces. Aunt Petunia and Dudley jumped up in shock as Aunt Marge laughed it off. "Not to fret, Petunia, I have a very firm grip. You, clean up!" she snapped at me.

Harry gave me the calm down look and handed me a towel so I could clean up the spill. As I went to clean up the spilt brandy, Aunt Marge continued. "Actually, it doesn't have to do with the father, it has to do with the mother. You see it with dogs all the time. If there's something wrong with the bitch, there's something wrong with the pup."

"Shut up! Shut up!" I shouted as I threw down the towel and got into her face. "How dare you talk about our mother like that? You never knew her!"

"Elliot, calm down!" shouted Harry.

But my blood was pounding through my veins. The lights began to flicker and the doors blew open with a large gust of wind. Of course, it was probably me causing the horrible weather because of my anger. I hadn't learned to control that yet. But now I was screwed…I'm not even going back to Hogwarts…oh well, might as well continue…but Aunt Marge wasn't taken back by it. Instead, she said to me, "How dare you talk back to me, you little wench!"

Now I really wanted to give her what she deserved. So did Harry, because his voice shouted, "No one talks to my sister that way!"

Aunt Marge was just about to scold us when her sausage like finger began to expand into a sausage! The lights began to flicker, and Aunt Marge began to blow up. Suddenly, she began o float out the door and into the night sky. As Uncle Vernon ran after her, Harry and I ran up to Harry's room to hide. As soon as Harry had shut the door, I screamed, "What the bloody hell just happened?"

Harry shrugged as he asked, "Did you think…?"

"Of blowing her up?" Yeah, did you?" I finished.

"Yeah…scary…did you cause the horrible weather?"

"Yeah…my bad…guess you're not going to Hogsmeade either."

"Or Hogwarts for that matter."

"Oh, right. That puts a damper on things. Not to mention I'm sure Uncle Vernon is furious."

Harry nodded in agreement and told me, "Hurry up and grab your stuff before Uncle Vernon comes up."

So, I put all my things together and we ran down the stairs just as Uncle Vernon blocked our exit. "You bring her back and put her right."

"No, she got what she deserved," replied Harry.

Uncle Vernon was about to attack when Harry and I pulled out our wands. "Stay away from us."

"You're not allowed to use magic outside of school, they won't take you back now…you've got nowhere to go."

"I don't care. Anywhere is better than here," replied Harry as he led me out. I saw Uncle Vernon came after me, so I pulled out my wand and threatened, "Don't even try me."

Uncle Vernon quickly backed up as Harry and I stormed out of the house. Sure, we could have gone back though the Floo Network to the Weasley's but I didn't want to explain to them why Harry came along. So we ran as far away as we could, his trunk and my bag trailing behind us.

TBC…

**Please R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

After running as far as we could from the Dursley's house, we finally sat down on the sidewalk in front of the local park. The cold wind froze me down to the bone, but I was still steaming from my encounter with Aunt Marge. I could tell that Harry was feeling the same way. "You know how unfair this is? I mean, she drove us to blow her up!" I stated angrily as I stood up to look down at him.

"Yeah, well it doesn't matter now," he grumbled.

I was astonished. Here was Harry Potter, a man of action, surrendering. "So that's it, then? You're just going to give up?"

"What do you expect us to do, Elliot? We performed magic while underage! We could go to prison!"

"You disappoint me," I muttered as I sat down. A wind began to pick up, reminding me that I wasn't wearing a coat. As I began to shiver, I felt a coat being draped over my shoulders. When I looked up, I saw Harry placing his coat on me. "Harry, you need it more than I do."

"Nonsense, I'm alright."

As we sat there, I saw a gleam of yellow eyes glaring at us. "Harry," I whispered.

But Harry had seen it too. Slowly, we stood up to get a closer look when we were blown off of our feet and onto the pavement. The reason for us being knocked over was the appearance of a purple triple-decker bus. At the entrance stood a man, ragged and homeless like. Without noticing us, he said, "Hello, welcome to the Knight Bus for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor for this evening."

Finally, he looked down at us. "What you doing down there?" he asked.

"We fell over," replied Harry.

"What you fall over for?"

"We didn't do it on purpose," I replied.

"Well, hurry up then. Let's not wait for the grass to grow," said Stan.

Harry and I looked over to where the eyes were, only to find them gone. Shunpike turned to look what we were looking at. "What you looking at?"

"Nothing," replied Harry.

"Well then hurry up. No, I'll get it! You get on!" he ordered as I went for our stuff. Hen we got on, we saw a row of beds with a chandelier hanging overhead. Harry and I sat on the bed next to the front as Stan gave us our stuff and handed us our tickets. As we examined our tickets, Stan knocked on the window and said, "Take it away, Ern!"

"Yeah, take it away, Ernie!" came a voice from a shrunken head. The driver woke up and quickly sped away from the location. Harry and I had been flow down onto the beds as w continued our passage through London. The bus swerved and sped around cars and other objects. "Where are ya headed?" asked Stan.

"The Leaky Cauldron that's in London," replied Harry.

"Did you hear that, Ern? The Leaky Cauldron that's in London," smiled Stan.

"The Leaky Cauldron? If you order the pea soup, make sure you eat it before it eats you," laughed the shrunken head.

As we continued through the Muggle streets of London, I asked, "Can't the Muggles see us?"

"Ah, the Muggles don't see nothing, do they?" replied Stan.

Of course, the magic world had to conceal themselves from the Muggles. I was sure we would be exposed if they saw a purple bus speeding past everything. "Hey Ernie, there's a little old lady at twelve o'clock!" shouted the shrunken head.

Suddenly, Ernie hit the brakes, causing Harryand me to fly forward and hit our faces against the window. When we regained our composure, the shrunken head counted down, "Five…four…three…two…two in a half…one and three quarters…ONE!"

The bas went speeding off again, causing Harry and myself to fall back on the bed. When the bed rolled back to Stan, he looked at us in confusion and asked, "What you say your names were again?"

"We didn't," I replied. We didn't tell them for a reason; Harry was tired of the fame and I didn't want people to know just yet…but they were sure to find out sooner of later. We continued our way through London when the shrunken head stated, "Two double decker buses at twelve o'clock."

But Ernie didn't look like he was going to move. "They're getting closer, Ern."

Ernie continued straight towards the. "ERN! THEY'RE RIGHT ON TOP OF US!"

Ernie pulled a lever that made everything move in slow motion. As he pulled another lever, the bus began to squeeze and the shrunken head laughed, "Mind our head."

I could barely breathe in, but I couldn't breathe out. I felt like I was suffocating. "Hey, hey guys, why the long faces!" laughed the shrunken head as the bus returned to it's normal size, allowing me to breath and speeding off again.

As we sped up, Harry and I noticed a crazy man on the cover of Stan's Daily Prophet. "Who is that? That man?" asked Harry.

Stan looked at the picture and at us as if we were crazy. "Who is…who is that? That's Sirius Black, that is. He's a murderer…got himself locked up in Azkaban for it."

"How did he escape?" I asked.

"That's the thing, in't? He's the first one who done it! He was a big supporter of…You-Know-Who. Reckon you've heard of him."

"Yeah, him we've heard of," replied Harry. Great, there was a mass murderer who supported Voldemort out on the loose. How fun. Suddenly, Ernie stopped, sending me and Harry flying again. After we hit the window and regained our composure for the last time, Stan said, "The Leaky Cauldron."

"Next stop, Knockturn Alley," replied the shrunken head. As Harry and I grabbed our things, a man with a hump on his back came in. "Mr. and Ms. Potter, we were expecting you."

"Potter? Hey Ern, did you hear that? That was Harry and Elliot Potter, that was!" I heard Stan shout.

Harry and I shook our heads as we walked off the bus, allowing the bus to speed off and disappeared into the night. The man led us up through the Leaky Cauldron to the rooms upstairs. When he opened the door to a room, we saw Hedwig ad Felix perched on a…well, perch. "Felix! Hedwig!" Harry and I smiled at our owls as we walked in to pet them.

"Right smart birds you got there," said the man as the sound of someone clearing through filled the room.

Harry and I turned to see Cornelius Fudge staring out the window as a quill scratched down something on a bit of parchment. "We'd like to inform you, Mr. and Ms. Potter, that earlier this evening, we found your aunt floating around Northern London."

As Fudge continued to speak, his little servant shoved us into a pair of chairs and offered us food. "It is my pleasure to announce that she has been properly deflated and her memory modified. So that's that…and no harm done! Care for some pea soup?"

Harry and I stared at Fudge in confusion. As we both shook our heads, Harry I asked, "Sir, I don't understand. We broke the law. Underage wizards aren't allowed to use magic outside of school."

Fudge gave a smile as he came closer. "Come now, Harry, we don't send people to Azkaban for blowing up their aunt. But I must say that it was very irresponsible of you running out of your Aunt and Uncle's house."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"We have a killer on the loose."

"Sirius Black? But what does he have to do with us?" asked Harry.

"Nothing my dear boy. Now, I took the liberty of getting your supplies for your new year at Hogwarts and they have been delivered to your room."

"Thank you, Minister," I replied as we were lead to our room. After we called our owls and were just about to leave, Fudge stated, "Oh, one more thing, you two. While here, it would probably be best if you didn't wander."

With that last statement, the quill finished scratching and we left. Our room was far from the Minister's. Our books were stacked neatly with a book with eyes and buckle around the mouth. Curiosity took a hold and I unbuckled it. Big mistake. The book opened and tried to take my face off. Harry laughed as I dropped the book and it ran under my bed. "Very funny!" I laughed sarcastically at him.

I got on top of my bed and peered under to see the book staring at me. Suddenly, he came scurrying at me. I jumped up, causing the book to disappear again. Furious, I whispered, "Harry, come here…and stay off of the floor."

After he jumped onto my bed, I told him, "I'm going to jump down. When the book comes into view, you'll jump on it."

Harry gave me the thumbs up as I took a deep breath and jumped away from the bed and onto the floor. The book came towards me, allowing Harry to jump on it and stop its erratic behavior. I replied the belt buckle and placed it back on the pile. Realizing that I was growing tired, I fell back on my bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.

TBC…

**Please R&R!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The next morning, Harry and I had changed into fresh clothes and headed downstairs when an ugly rat ran down the hall, being chased by a large orange furball. I recognized the rat, but not the cat. So, Harry and I followed the animals and heard a familiar voice shout, "I'm warning you, Hermione, keep that bloody beast away from Scabbers."

That's when Ron and Hermione's heads came into view. "He's a cat, Ronald, it's in his nature."

"A cat? Is that what they told you? It looks more like a pig with fur, if you ask me."

Harry and I leaned against the railing and smiled. "That's charming, Ronald. Coming from an owner with that pet! It's alright, Crookshanks, just ignore the mean boy."

Ron finally noticed us and smiled, "Harry! Elliot!"

I gave a smile and walked down the stairs. Ron and Hermione met us at the bottom when I asked Ron, "Feeling better?"

Before Ron could answer, I punched him hard in the stomach. Ron doubled over in pain as I scolded, "You prat! How dare you pretend to be sick and leave me to deal with the Dursleys by myself?"

With each word came another hard punch. It may not have been the best way to handle the situation, but it made me feel good. Finally, Harry pulled me off of him as Ron regained his breath. "Bloody hell, Elliot, I didn't know you could hit like that," he grunted.

"There is plenty more where that came from," I replied with a snarl.

"Alright, you two. That's enough. Why don't we get something to eat?" suggested Hermione.

"Perfect," I replied, giving Ron the evil eye.

Harry and Hermione were walking off, but Ron and I stood glued to the spot. Ron looked scared while I looked furious. I'm guessing that both Harry and Hermione noticed that we weren't following them because I felt Hermione grab my arm and drag me to the dining area. The room was jam packed with witches and wizards. The four of us found a seat at a long table where Percy sat looking over a newspaper. "Oh, Harry, I have something to show you," smiled Ron as he rummaged through his pockets.

Trying to ignore him, I looked at Hermione's large cat and smiled, "He's adorable!"

"Isn't he? I saw him at the menagerie and I just had to have him."

As I scratched behind Crookshanks' ears, Ron pulled out the picture of us in Egypt. "Look where we went, Harry!" smiled Ron.

Harry's eyes lit up. "Wow! Egypt! What's it like?"

"Brilliant! There were loads of mummies and stuff. Even Scabbers enjoyed himself."

"You know that the Egyptians use to worship cats," I stated. I was still angry at Ron and seeing as how Crookshanks was adorable and Ron hated him, I though It would be a good idea to let out some of my anger. "Yeah, along with the dung beetle," replied Ron.

I shook my head and went back to adoring Crookshanks when Fred, George, Rachel and Amanda came in, taking the picture from Ron. "Flashing that picture again, have you Ron?" asked Fred.

"I haven't shown anyone!" replied Ron.

"No, not a soul. Unless you count Tom the barman," stated George.

"The morning maid," continued Fred.

"The night maid," added Amanda.

"And the wizard in Flourish and Blotts," finished Rachel as they sat at the table. I tried to sustain my laughter as Mr. And Mrs. Weasley ran up to us. "Harry! Elliot! Thank goodness you're alright!"

Harry and I stood up to greet them. As I jumped over the table to stand with Harry, Mrs. Weasley asked, "Do you have everything?"

"Yes," replied Harry.

"All of your books?"

"Yeah, they're upstairs," I replied.

"Good job. Oh Elliot, we brought your trunk and sent it up to your room."

"Thank you," I said as she walked away.

Just then, Mr. Weasley took her spot. "Harry, Elliot, good to see you!"

"Good to see you too, Mr. Weasley," replied Harry.

"Can I have a word with both of you?"

"Sure thing," I replied.

Mr. Weasley led both me and Harry beneath the staircase to a more secluded area. Wanted posters of Sirius Black adorned the walls. "Have a good holiday, Harry?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"Yeah, it was fine," replied Harry as Mrs. Weasley stopped and turned to us. "I'm sure Dumbledore has told you two about your parents?"

"Yeah, he sent an owl about a week ago," I replied.

"Good. Now listen you two, there are some within the Ministry who would discourage what I am about to divulge to you, but I think you both need to know the facts. You are in danger…grave danger," he whispered.

"Why am I not surprised?" I muttered under my breath.

"Sir, does this have anything to do with Sirius Black?" asked Harry.

"What do you know about Black?"

"That he's a murderer and escaped from Azkaban," replied Harry.

"Do you know anything else?"

"Well, we're sort of confused with what he has to do with us," I replied.

Mr. Weasley took a deep breath and began, "Thirteen years ago, when you defeated…"

"Voldemort?" I asked.

"Don't say his name!"

"Sorry."

"When you defeated You-Know-Who, Black lost everything," started Mr. Weasley again as he led us away from the spot as if it were cursed, "But to this day, he remains a faithful servant, and in his mind, you two are the only thing that stands in the way of…You-Know-Who, returning to power. And that is why he has escaped from Azkaban. To find you two and…" he continued after leading us to a new spot.

"And kill us," I finished.

"Harry…Elliot, swear to me that whatever you might hear, you will not go looking for Black."

"Mr. Weasley, why would we go looking for someone who wants to kill us?" asked Harry.

Harry did have a point. We wanted to stay alive for as long as possible. So, we promised Mr. Weasley that we wouldn't go looking for Sirius Black and returned to our friends. Unfortunately, I had to walk in on a make-session between Rachel and George. The only way I found that out was because when I went to the lavatory, I found them snogging in the shadows between the boys and girl's lavatory. "EW! Rachel! Get a room!"

Rachel and George quickly split up and ran of towards the dining area again as I proceeded into the lavatory. I wish I never have to see that again.

TBC...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

We stayed at the Leaky Cauldron for a couple of days and then we made our way to King Cross Station to board the Hogwarts Express. The platform was packed with students, as usual, and Ron nearly lost his pathetic rat. The train was over packed, too. Too many first years, if you ask me. Fred and George had run off to do some business with Lee Jordan, leaving the six of us to find a compartment. "So you guys blew up your aunt?" asked Rachel as we continued down the train.

"Yeah, but it wasn't on purpose," I replied.

"Brilliant!" smiled Ron.

"Honestly, Ronald, they were lucky they weren't expelled," stated Hermione.

"I still think it was brilliant," he muttered.

"I think we were lucky that we didn't get arrested, actually," stated Harry as Amanda came to a stop in front of a compartment with a sleeping figure. "Come on, everywhere else is full."

We all piled in as I asked, "Who do you think that is?"

"Professor R.J. Lupin," stated Hermione.

"She knows everything! How is it she knows everything?" asked Ron.

"Honestly, Ron, it's on his suitcase," replied Amanda.

Ron hung his head low as Harry asked, "Do you think he's asleep?"

"He seems so, why?" asked Rachel.

I stood up and as I closed the compartment door, I replied, "We have to tell you something."

After the door was closed, we began to explain to them about Dumbledore's letter and Sirius Black. Hermione had been listening intently to every word. After we had finished, the outside was dark and pouring with rain, giving a very gloomy feeling as Ron asked, "So Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban and now wants to kill you two?"

"But, they'll find him. I mean, everyone's looking for him," replied Hermione.

"Of course, it's just, no one's ever escaped from Azkaban before, and he's a murderous, raving lunatic," muttered Ron.

"Yeah, thanks Ron," I replied sarcastically as the train began to come to a stop. "Why are we stopping? We can't be there yet," stated Amanda.

Lupin continued to sleep as Harry suggested, "Maybe we've broken down."

"Oh yeah, Harry, a magical train breaking down, that's common," huffed Rachel as Harry and I ran to the door to look out into the hall. Fred and George began running down the hall, yelling, "We're going to check on the conductor."

As they ran off, Rachel and Amanda pushed past us shouting, "Hold up, we're coming too!"

When they disappeared, Harry and I sat back down as the lights flickered off. I sat down with Harry just as Ron kicked me in the foot. "Ow! Ron that was my foot!"

But Ron was too busy looking out of the window. "There's something moving out there."

It was hard to tell since it was dark outside. Suddenly, a frost began to cover the window until it surrounded Ron's hand. The room grew cold, our breaths streaming in front of us. Then, the train gave a sudden jerk, pulling Ron away from the window. "Bloody hell, what's happening?"

A sudden feeling of dread overcame us as two billowing figures stepped outside our door. The door opened to reveal two figures cloaked in black and bony hands. Their faces were covered in darkness. Crookshanks hissed as Scabbers hid in Ron's shirt. The two things approached us and then I felt as if my life was being sucked away. Something must have happened because there was a bright light, the sucking stopped, and I heard a man yell and then, darkness.

--oOo--

I slowly opened my eyes to find everyone looking at me and Harry, even the guy named Lupin. Lupin took out two brown chunks and handed them to us. "Here, eat this, it will make you feel better."

We both hesitated. "It's alright, it's chocolate."

Oh, well in that case, I took the chocolate and took a small bite. After Harry took a bite, he asked, "What were those things?"

"Those were Dementors from Azkaban. They were looking for Sirius Black. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to have a little chat with the driver," replied Lupin as he stood up and walked to the door, but before he left, he turned around and said, "Eat, it will make you feel better."

As soon as Lupin was gone, Harry asked, "What happened?"

"You guys went rigid. We thought you were having a fit or something," explained Ron.

"And did either of you…you know…pass out?" I asked.

"No, but I felt weird, like I'd never be cheerful again," stated Ron just as Amanda and Rachel came running in with a look of relief on their faces. "Oh thank goodness you're alright," sighed Amanda as she ran in and gave me a hug.

"We ran into Lupin and he explained everything. We came down here to make sure you were alright," stated Rachel.

"Do you know who screamed?" asked Harry.

"No one screamed," replied Hermione.

"But, I heard screaming too…more like yelling, actually," I stated.

"Elliot, Amanda and I were racing up and down the train. There was no one yelling or screaming," proclaimed Rachel.

I was baffled. How could I have heard a loud yelling clear as day and no one else could? As I went over the possibilities, the train pulled into the station and allowed us to climb into the carriages. Rain continued to pound down from the dark sky as we made our way to Hogwarts, creating an eerie feeling. Just when I thought we would have a "normal" school year. Right when we reached school, Professor McGonagall approached us and stated, "Evening children. I would like to see Ms. Granger, Ms. Janine and Ms. Sinclair."

Who, McGonagall wanted to see them? Interesting! After they had left the group, Ron and Harry dragged me into the Great Hall to keep me from following them and to sit with our fellow Gryffindors. When we sat down, Fred and George asked, "Where are Amanda and Rachel?"

"With McGonagall," I replied as Mr. Filch led the first years next to our table and towards the Sorting Hat. The first years stood around in awe and fear as they waited. After a few minutes, McGonagall came walking in with no haste. When she reached the Sorting hat, Rachel, Amanda and Hermione came tip-toeing in to sit with us. "What did McGonagall want?" I asked.

"None of your business," replied Rachel as McGonagall began to call the names of the first years. Once all the kids were sorted, the food appeared and I began to stuff my face. Man the food was good. Once most of the food was gone, Dumbledore took the stand and announced, "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Now, we have two new changes in staff this year. First, I am sure you will all join me in welcoming our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor R.J. Lupin. Good luck, Professor."

As Dumbledore pointed at Lupin, he stood up and we all clapped. "Of course, that's how he knew to give you two the chocolate," stated Hermione.

As soon as the clapping had died down, I heard the disgusting voice of Draco Malfoy behind me and Harry sneer, "Hey Potter!"

Of course, Harry and I turned around. "I heard you both fainted on the train. Is it true…I mean, you actually fainted?"

"Shut it, Malfoy," gritted Ron as he and Harry pushed me back from attacking him.

"How does he know?" asked Harry.

"Just ignore him," replied Hermione as Dumbledore continued. "Also, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Grubblyplank, has retired to spend time with his remaining limbs. Therefore, I am proud to announce that his spot will be taken by our very own, Rubeus Hagrid."

We all cheered very loudly as Hagrid stood up, almost knocking over the table. After Hagrid sat back down, Dumbledore spoke once more. "By request of the Minister of Magic, Hogwarts will play host to the Dementors of Azkaban."

Harry and I looked at each other, fear of those things glistening in our eyes. "Although I have been informed that they will not disrupt our day to day activities, I must ask you not to give any reason to harm you. Dementors are very foul beings and should not be taken lightly. But, happiness can be found in the darkest of times," continued Dumbledore, waving his hand over a candle, distinguishing the flame, "If only one remembers to turn on the light."

With a wave again, the candle was relit and Dumbledore went on with the normal rules. Since I already knew them, I didn't pay attention. Anyway, I never followed them. No fun at all, if you ask me. After the feast was over, we raced up the stairs to the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was trying to sing. Seamus ran to the front and shouted, "Fortuna Major!"

But the Fat Lady didn't move. "I told you, she just won't let me in," he stated as we walked up to him. The screeching of the Fat Lady filled the halls as I shouted, "Fortuna Major!"

"Wait, wait! Watch this," she replied as she went up the scale and started to scream. We all covered our ears as she smashed the glass against the wall. She sighed in awe as we uncovered our ears. "Amazing! Top of my voice," she laughed.

Frustrated, Rachel shouted, "Fortuna Major."

Sadly, the Fat Lady replied, "Oh, alright," and let us pass.

Seamus, Harry and I led the way in, muttering about how awful she was, and all said in unison, "She can't even sing."

There was a disgusted voice behind me and I turned to see that one of the ghosts had just walked through Amanda. I laughed when Seamus asked, "Hey Elliot, you want to play a game with us boys?"

"Sure, hey Rachel, Amanda, want to play a game?"

"Sure," replied Amanda as Seamus led us to the boy's dormitory. Up there, we saw Ron, Harry, Neville and Dean sitting on the beds. When we arrived, Seamus pulled out a box of candy and stated, "Let the game begin."

The "game" wasn't a game at all…it was just pulling out pieces of candy and eating them. The candy made you act and sound like an animal. Seamus was the first, and as soon as he started chewing, he began to jump around and act like a monkey. After the candy stopped, they threw one at Neville, causing him to sound like an elephant. Then, they threw one at Rachel. What it did was cause her to slither and hiss…like a bloody snake. Even though it was just her, I jumped onto the nearest bed…which was, unfortunately, Ron's. Everyone in the room laughed as Amanda grabbed a candy. That one made Amanda sound like a tiger. I enjoyed that. After Amanda was done, I was handed a piece. I had placed it in my mouth when the sound of a cheetah emerged fro my mouth. Now THAT was cool. Ron got a lion…very ironic and very hilarious. They tried to stop Harry from eating one, but he popped it into his mouth and steam erupted from his ears. Once the steam had stopped, we picked up the nearest pillow and began a monster pillow fight. Ron hit me and I shouted, "Hey, guys can't hit girls!"

Everyone stopped and Ron looked horrorstruck until I shouted, "Just joking!" and hit him square in the head. We had a good time, even with the threat of Dementors outside.

TBC…


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

That next morning, Rachel, Amanda and Hermione left us to go get some breakfast, telling us that they would meet us at Divination. I wasn't exactly looking forward to having a new class that had to deal with the "inner eye" but it was a requirement, so I had no choice. The classroom was in one of the towers, so we had the unfortunate luck to climb the staircase. When we walked into the room, we saw a very séance looking room filled with tables and ups. The three of us took a table in the middle. We had just sat down when a third cup appeared in front of me. As soon as the class was finally in the room, a strange-looking woman with overlarge spectacles came to the front. "Hello class, I am Professor Trelawney," she greeted, "In this classroom, you will learn the noble art of divination."

Harry, Ron and I exchanged disgusted glances. "In this class, you will learn if you hold the sight," she continued as she ran into her table.

I laughed as she smiled. "In this room, we shall cast ourselves into the future!"

No one was excited about it like she was…well, maybe the Patil twins and Lavender, but that's about it. "Today, we will learn the art of reading tea leaves, so if would take the cup of the person sitting across from you, we shall began."

Since there were three of us, I took Harry's, Ron took mine and Harry took Ron's. "I want you to describe what you see. Open your minds and look into they beyond!" she smiled.

She had just said that when I heard Rachel's voice say, "What a load of rubbish."

I was confused. I looked around and saw Hermione, Rachel and Amanda occupying the table in front of us…that was originally abandoned. "When did you get here?" I asked.

"What are you talking about? We've always been here," replied Amanda.

I just shook my head when Proffessor Trelawney stopped and pointed at Ron, causing him to jump. "You, your aura is glowing. Are you in the beyond? I think you are!"

"Yeah, sure," he whimpered.

I laughed as she said, "Tell me what you see."

Ron opened his book and looked at the cup. "Well, that wonky cross, that means suffering…and the blot could be a sun, which means happiness."

Trelawney smiled as he turned to me and said, "So, you're going to suffer…but you'll be happy about it."

"Let me see that!" I said as I snatched it from Ron. Amazingly enough, it looked exactly like Harry's. "Guess Harry and I will be suffering together."

Trewlaney took the cups and as soon as she looked down, she threw the cups back at us, gasping. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"My dears…you have…the grim."

"The grin? What's the grin?" asked Seamus.

"Not the grin, you idiot! The grim!" shouted Amanda.

"Well, what does it mean?" asked Dean.

"The grim takes the form of a giant spectral dog. It is among the darkest omens in our world. It is an omen…of death," read Rachel.

Harry and I stared at the cup, seeing the shape of a dog howling. After the class was over, we bgan our walk down to Hagrid's hut. Hermione and Amanda walked in front while Rachel, Harry, Ron and I followed. "Can you believe that class? What a load of rubbish," stated Rachel.

"I agree. Now, Ancient Ruins, that's a fascinating subject," replied Hermione as we continued down the stairs. Suddenly, Ron stopped in front of me, causing me to run into him. "Ron, why are you stopping?"

"Because that's not possible. Ancient Ruins is at the same time as Divination. You would have to be in two classes at once."

"Honestly, Ron, how can anyone be at two places at once?" asked Amanda.

"She's got a point. Isn't Trewlaney a hoot? 'In this inner hour, you will look into the future!' What a loony," I laughed as we reached the bottom step and Hagrid's hut. A group of students gathered around hagrid, the monster books in their hands held shut by belts and other manners of clasping the mouth shut. Hagrid stood in front and shouted, "Gather around, got a real treat for ya today. Follow me."

We all were led into the Forbbiden Forest. It looked so much friendlyer in the day. Once we reached a clearing, Hagrid said, "Open yer books to page 49."

"And how exactly are we supposed to do that?" sneered Malfoy.

"You stroke the spine, o'course," stated Hagrid as if everyone should have known that.

I looked at my book and stroked its spikey spine. Sure enough, it calmed and allowed me to open it without it trying to rip off my face. Neville, on the other hand, had his book attack. I couldn't help but laugh. Once Neville approached the group, his clothes were torn and ragged and Ron laughed, "You're suppose to stroke it."

As I took off my coat and loosened my tie, I heard Malfoy shout, "Wow, this place has gone to the dogs."

I turned with an unamused look on my face to glare at him. As did everyone else. "Just wait till my father hears that Dumbledore has this oaf teaching classes."

As Rachel held me back, Harry walked forward and threatened, "Shut up, Malfoy."

Finally, I broke free of Rachel's grasp and walked to Harry's side, saying, "Maybe it's time you pulled off those diapers of yours and stop being a daddy's boy."

I could hear Amanda laugh behind me. Malfoy's goons whistled as Malfoy slipped his bag off, handing it to Goyle, and stepped forward to attack. Harry and I braced ourselves as Malfoy's ugly face turned from threatening to frightened. He stumbled back pointing ans shouting like a baby, "DEMENTOR! DEMENTOR!"

Everyone turned and looked in horror, but I jumped clear out of my skin in shock. But there was nothing there. The Slytherin's laughed as we turned to see Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle put their hoods up like Dementors and wiggle their fingers, trying to be scary. I was about to jump him when Hagrid whistled. We all turned to see Hagrid put out his arms in show and shouted, "Dah-dah-dah-dah!"

Suddenly, a huge beast emerged from the bushes. As it came closer into the lgith, Hagrid said, "Isn't he beautiful? Say hello to Buckbeak!"

The creature looked like a cross between a griffin and an eagle. It had silver and blue feathers and large talons. "Hagrid, what exactly is that?" Ron asked.

"That, Ron, is a Hippogriff. Now, the first thing that ye need to know about Hippogriffs are that they are very proud creatures. You do not want to insult a Hippogriff, because it might be the last thing you do. Now, who would like to come say hello?"

Now, for those of you who know me, I am rather brave. So you would think that if I can stand up to Voldemort and kill a Basilisk that I should be able to say hello to Buckbeak. I don't know why, but instead of being brave, I backed up with everyone else, leaving harry by himself in the front. I felt a tad bit sorry for harry, but…better him than me. Hagrid turned around and smiled, "Well done, Harry."

I watched as Harry realized we had left him. His face was priceless, ha ha…sorry. Anyway, Harry wasn't moving, so Ron stepped forward and knudged Harry. Harry took a step forward and Hagrid instructed, "Now, walk towards him and givehim a nice, low bow. If he bows back, you can go and touch him. If he doesn't…well, we'll get to that later."

Harry took a few steps and bowed really low. Once he stopped, Buckbeak began flapping his wings. "Get back, Harry," ordered Hagrid.

When Harry took a step back, he stepped on a twig and stopped in his tracks. My hand flew up and grabbed the sleeve of the person standing next to me. "Don't move, Harry," ordered Hagrid.

As Harry stayed rooted to the spot, still bowing, we watched as Buckbeak bowed back. I sighed as Harry stood up. "Well done. Now you can go and touch him."

Harry slowly outstretched his hand and walked forward. As he stepped forward inch by inch, Buckbeak snapped at him. My hand went from the person's shirt down to their wrist. I looked over to see that it was Ron's wrist and his eyes were wide with shock. I immediately let go and turned away from him as Harry's hand slowly patted Buckbeak's head. "WELL DONE HARRY!" clapped Hagrid.

Everyone clapped with him, sighing with relief. Harry survived the encounter with a Hippogriff! I think that's a good thing. Suddenly, Hagrid stopped clapping and said, "I think he'll let you ride him now."

I watched as Harry turned his eyes to Hagrid's and asked with a sound of shock, "What?"

Hagrid suddenly lifted Harry off the ground and set him on Buckbeak's back. Harry had barely any time to react when Hagrid hit the butt of Buckbeak and sent them on their way. We watched as Harry flew off the ground and away from us. "Oh, I hope he's alright," I muttered as I watched them fly away.

We all looked around, trying to find where they had flown off to when Hagrid whistled and Buckbeak came flying back down. Everyone clapped as Harry hopped off. They began to mutter something when Malfoy burst through the crowd and towards Buckbeak. "You're not dangerous at all, are you, you great brute!"

Buckbeak looked angry as Hagrid saw what Malfoy was doing. I didn't dare say anything…Malfoy deserved what he was going to get. Buckbeak went onto his hind legs and everyone backed off as his talons came down on Malfoy's arm, creating a scratch. Malfoy whimpered on the ground as Hagrid sent Buckbeak off. Hagrid then rushed to Malfoy's side and said, "It's alright…it's just a scratch."

"HAGRID! He has to go to the Hospital Wing!" shouted Hermione.

"I'm the teacher, I'll take him. CLASS DISMISSED!" he shouted as he carried Hagrid off in his arms. I stood by Harry when Buckbeak came over and knudged Harry in his shoulder. I jumped sideways as Harry petted him. As we walked away, I asked Harry, "What was it like to fly on his back?"

"AMAZING! I mean, it's different from being on a broom…and I prefer brooms, but just being up there on a live thing was amazing!"

We all laughed as we headed to the Great Hall for lunch. However, I had a feeling that something was going to happen to Hagrid because of Malfoy…if only I could strangle Draco Malfoy myself…

TBC…

**Please R&R**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

For some odd reason, I really enjoyed lunch. Not everyone was in the mess hall, so you could talk without having to talk over people, but if you didn't want anyone to overhear your conversation, it was loud enough to cover it up. Unfortunately, Malfoy was talking loud enough for us to hear his bragging to his friends how he almost died from Buckbeak. I turned back to my friends and asked, "Do you hear what that weasel is saying?"

"It's Malfoy, what do you expect?" retorted Rachel as she took a bite of her meal.

"Look at him! He's eating this up! I just want to go over there and wipe that smirk off of his face," I gritted.

"His father is already furious enough, don't give him an excuse to get you expelled," replied Hermione.

"Daddy's boy," I muttered under my breath as I took out my wand and gave it a little flick, causing the bit of meat on Malfoy's fork to turn into a bit of moldy cheese. And, of course, he ate it! It was hilarious to watch him choke on his food. But for some odd reason, my friends didn't find it as amusing as I did. "Why the serious faces?"

"How did you do that?" asked Amanda.

"Do what?"

"You changed something into something else without saying anything. You don't learn silent spells for another three years," stated Hermione.

"Dumb…" I began, but then remember our "lessons" were meant to be quiet, so I replied, "Dumb…dumb luck?"

Before they could say anything, Seamus came running up shouting, "He's been sighted! He's been sighted!"

"Who?" asked Ron.

"Who do you think? Sirius Black!"

Everyone ran over to us, staring at the _Daily Prophet_ that Seamus had thrown down in front of us. Of course, leave it to Hermione to actually read the bloody article. "Dufftown! That's not far from here."

"You don't think that he would come here, do you? After all, there are Dementors at every entrance," stated Ron.

"Dementors!? He's already slipped past them once, whose to say he won't do it again?" replied Seamus.

"He's right. Black could be anywhere. It's like trying to catch smoke. Like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands!" said Dean.

Harry and I exchanged nervous glances as we looked down at the picture of the crazy man, screaming silently at the unknown people staring back at him. I could see the darkness in his eyes. It was nerve-wracking. As everyone else sat around discussing Black's whereabouts, we snuck from the table and headed towards Defense Against the Dark Arts, snagging the paper as we went. Rachel, Amanda and Hermione left us at the Grand Staircase, telling us they would meet up with us in the classroom. As we ascended the staircase, I continued to stare at the crazy man laughing at us from his picture. "Can you believe it? Sirius Black here?" stated Ron.

"Ron…" I began.

"I would hate to be you guys right now," he continued.

Getting angry, I rolled the paper up and hit Ron across the head with it. "OW! What was that for?" he asked with a whine in his voice.

"Stop being an idiot," I snarled at him, waving the paper in his face.

Just then, Oliver Wood stopped us at the third floor and said, "Hello you two. You ready for practice this afternoon?"

That's right! I had almost completely forgotten about Quidditch. I guess worrying about a psycho killer being after you makes you forget the finer things in life. "We've been looking forward to it," lied Harry.

"Great. When you see Rachel, let her know. I'll see you two at the pitch before supper."

And with that, Wood left. I then turned to Harry and said, "I forgot about practice! How am I EVER going to get my work done AND have practice?"

"Beats me. Come on, let's get inside before we get in trouble," replied Harry as we walked into the corridor and towards the classroom. When we walked inside, we saw a large cupboard in the middle of the room, shaking as if something were inside. All of the desks were pushed against the wall, leaving the middle of the room free. We all gathered around in the large group, a safe distance from the rattling cabinet. Professor Lupin then walked down the stairs and next to the cupboard. "Can anyone tell me what is inside?" he asked.

"That's a boggart, that is!" replied Dean as the cupboard bounced again, causing all of us to take a step back. "Very good, Mr. Thomas. Now can anyone tell me what a boggart LOOKS like?"

Suddenly, Hermione's voice appeared next to Ron, stating, "No one knows."

We turned and suddenly, where there was nothing, stood Hermione, Rachel and Amanda. "When did they get here?" asked Ron.

"A boggart takes the shape of whatever someone fears the most. That's what makes them so…" continued Hermione without answering Ron.

"So terrifying, yes. Now, there is a simple incantation to repel a boggart. Repeat after me. No wands, please. Ready? Ridikulus."

As a class, we muttered, "Ridikulus."

"Louder. RIDIKULUS!"

"RIDIKULUS!" we all shouted at him.

I could barely hear Malfoy in the back mutter, "This class is ridiculous."

"Now, the incantation alone is not enough. What really finishes a boggart off is laughter. Let me show you. Uh…Mr. Longbottom, if you would kindly join me."

I smiled as I watched Neville emerge from the group and walk towards Professor Lupin. Once he was close enough, Lupin asked, "What frightens you the most?"

Neville muttered something, but I couldn't hear it. "What was that?"

"P…Professor Snape."

We all laughed as Lupin smiled, "Yes, Professor Snape can be terrifying. Now, if I understand correctly, you live with your grandmother, correct?"

"Yes, but I don't want that thing to turn into her either."

We all laughed as Lupin replied, "No, it won't. Now, I want you to picture her clothes. ONLY her clothes."

"She carries a red…"

"We don't need to hear it. If you see it, we'll see it. Now, this is what I want you to do."

Lupin walked up to Neville and whispered something in his ear. The look on Neville's face was that of confusion as he looked back at Lupin. "Can you do that?"

Neville nodded as Lupin took out his wand and said, "Wand at the ready in three…two…one."

On 'one,' Lupin flicked his wand as the doorknob turned. Out of the cupboard came Snape, looking furious as ever. "Steady, Neville," encouraged Lupin.

As soon as Snape got closer, Neville pointed his wand and shouted, "RIDIKULUS!"

Suddenly, Snape was clothed in the most hideous outfit I had ever seen. It was a green dress with a red handbag, a bird hat and a weasel scarf. The sight was amazing. We all laughed hysterically as Neville stepped back as Lupin walked over to a record player and said, "Make a line and make something you fear something funny!"

Circus music began to play as Ron was the next one up. We all watched as Snape turned into a large spider. I laughed hysterically at the look on Ron's face. Ron quickly took out his wand and shouted, "RIDIKULUS!"

Suddenly, the spider began tap-dancing. We continued laughing as Ron walked away and next up was Amanda. The spider shape-shifted into Fred snogging some girl…wait…not just any girl…ANGELICA! Amanda's face grew angry as she shouted, "RIDIKULUS!"

Suddenly, her boggart self came into view and slapped Fred across the face. A few more went up and now, it was Rachel. The boggart turned into something terrifying even for myself. There, on the ground, was Boggart-Amanda, Boggart-Harry, Boggart-Ron, Boggart-Me, Boggart-Hermione…hell, Boggart EVERYBODY we knew…dead! Mangled and bloody. I could hear the Patil twins gagging in the distant. I was waiting to see something funny, but instead, Rachel just stormed out of the room, tears in her eyes. I looked at Lupin, who seemed a bit shocked. "It's alright, everyone! I was expecting a reaction like that. Uh…Miss Potter, you next."

I was pretty sure I knew what the boggart was going to turn into, but then I remembered all the horrific things. The boggart seemed to take forever to change, but finally, it turned into something that made EVERYONE gasp. It was Sirius Black and he was coming…AT ME! I could see Lupin out of the corner of my eye lunge, but I thought of something and shouted, "RIDIKULUS!"

Suddenly, Black began tap dancing with a monkey next to him. Now THAT was comedy. I didn't go to the back, I went off to the side to see Harry's and when the Boggart changed…I hid beneath a desk. It was a Dementor. This time, Lupin jumped in front of Harry, causing the boggart to change…into a full moon? Lupin muttered the curse and the moon turned into a deflated balloon, flying right back into the cabinet. We all looked in amazement as Lupin shouted, "Sorry about that. That's all the time we have for today. Class dismissed!"

I could hear the sounds of disappointment as everyone left. I didn't leave immediately, I wanted to talk to Lupin about why he was about to jump in front of me. But, he was took quick and he retreated back to his office. I wasn't about to go in there. So, I followed everyone out. When I walked out the door, I saw Fred walk up to Amanda with a smile. "How was…" he began but was interrupted when Amanda slapped him across the face.

Fred looked bewildered as we laughed and Amanda ran off. He looked at us and I just replied, "Apparently you cheated on her."

Confused, he ran after her, shouting her name. "Who was expecting that?" I asked when I saw Rachel sitting on the floor, resting against the wall.

Our faces of amusement turned into worry as we walked up to her. "Rachel?" asked Hermione as she and I knelt down next to her.

She didn't answer. Figures. "Hey, Rachel!" I shouted in her ear.

But she continued to just sit there. "Hey, you can't act like this forever! It was just a boggart. Wood will kill you if you show up to practice moping like this."

"Practice?" asked Rachel.

That's right! I had never told her. "Yeah, we have practice today. Now get up and stop acting like the world has ended. Nothing is going to happen to us."

"You promise?"

"I promise. Now, act like the Rachel I know and not this moping thing I see before me."

I had to laugh at myself. I always acted this way when one of my friends was moping. I'd be a smartass to get them to smile. That's me! And, it worked. Rachel got up and together, we headed towards the Gryffindor Common Room. As we walked up the staircase, Hermione asked, "How are you going to get all your work done and still do practice?"

With my I-Love-You smile on my face, I looked at her. "Oh no, I am not doing your work for you, Elliot."

"Please?"

"No!"

"Please?"

"NO!"

"Please?"

Hermione huffed a sigh. As she looked at me, she said, "You're not going to let up until I say yes, are you?"

I shook my head with a smile, something a 5-year-old would do. Heaving another sigh, she replied, "Alright, but just this once."

I swung my hand up in victory as Harry gave the password to the Fat Lady and we walked inside. Once inside, Harry, Rachel and I got changed for practice, bid our good-byes, and headed for the flying pitch. I was actually looking forward to this season. Once we arrived at the green field, Wood stood in front of us all and said, "Now, this season I have a very good feeling about the tournament. I've set up the practices everyday before supper and Sunday mornings. We will train longer and harder. I don't want to have to lose the Quidditch cup again. Now then, I want the three chasers to do laps and practice passing the Quaffel. Harry, you'll practice with the Snitch and Weasleys, target practice. If we're to beat the Slytherins, we'll have to play dirty. I'll be at one side of the field and I want you three to practice trying to make a goal. I'll call you all back for a break then we'll start part two."

Oh boy, tonight I was going to be sore. By the time the first break rolled around, my arms were dead weight. I didn't think I could throw or catch again. Part two was worse. For target practice for the twins, we had to try and avoid their bludgers. George missed Rachel on purpose and I ended up with several bruises. I was going to have to have a 'chat' with those two. Finally, practice was over and we immediately went to the Great Hall for dinner. I was starving. Once I sat down, I ate faster than Ron does when he's starving. All I wanted to do was get something to eat and sleep. I didn't pay attention to the conversation, I just focused on the slice of ham in front of me. Once that was over, I stumbled with everyone to the Common Room. Normally I would stay up so we could talk about things, but I ended up falling asleep on the couch and, according to Ron and Harry the next morning, Rachel and Amanda had to heave me from Ron's lap, which apparently turned into my pillow and carry me to bed. But I knew that Quidditch wasn't the only thing I had to worry about.

TBC…

**Please R&R!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

That week was probably the worst week I had suffered for a long time. I had classes, so much work and to top it all off, Quidditch practices that I swore were going to kill me. Wood kept drilling it into our heads that he didn't want to lose this year and we had to eat, breath and sleep Quidditch. I exactly did that. I didn't pay any attention in classes and ended up thinking Quidditch. In Transfiguration, instead of taking notes, I was drawing Quidditch plays. In Potions, I would practice maneuvers with my ingredients, much to Snape's annoyance. He eventually gave me a detention for spinning an ingredient around his head. In the halls, I would weave through the hall, pretending to be flying. It just got worse. In Care of Magical Creatures, I had to go the Hospital Wing because I wasn't paying attention to the Doxies and ended up getting bitten. On Thursday, Wood worked us to the max, reminding us that our first match against Hufflepuff was that Saturday and Friday's practice was going to be brutal, on Friday…I was completely out of it. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, we were suppose to be practicing enchanting an inanimate object into some defensive weapon when I mispronounced the incantation and ended up causing several spiders to run up Ron's arm. He screamed and Professor Lupin said to me, "See me after class."

I knew I was in for it. Once the class was dismissed, I tried to get out before Lupin could stop me, but he got to me. "Miss Potter, may I have a word with you in my office?"

I could hear Rachel humming the funeral song as I turned and sulked towards Lupin. He led me into his office which was actually perfectly normal. It wasn't covered in self portraits of himself like Lockhart's was last year. Once he closed the door, he asked, "Tea?"

I shook my head as Lupin placed a hand on my shoulder and guided me to a seat in front of his desk. Once I sat down, he rested against his desk and said, "According to the other professors, this isn't the only time you've been distracted, but only this year. I'm sure you're worried about Sirius Black, but I doubt that is what is distracting you. So, you want to tell me why you sent a hoard of spiders on Mr. Weasley?"

This had to be a trick. He was going to try to trick me into confessing into something. I wasn't going to play along with his little tactics, so I decided to lie. "Nothing's on my mind, except for my ingenious scheme for my next Potions lesson. It will be a…booming lesson."

And then, the unexpected happened. He laughed. Why was he laughing? "You are just like him."

"Like who?"

"You're father."

My eyes grew wide at his statement. "You knew my father?"

"I was one of his best friends when we attended Hogwarts. Such a great guy. But, he was horrible at lying. You do the same thing he did when he lied. You use very amusing puns. So, are you really going to tell me what is bothering you?"

I guess there was no way around this. Great, now he's going to think…wait, why did I decide to hide this from him in the first place? I don't know. I blame Wood. "Wood has been working us to the bone in Quidditch practice. My day seems to never end. I wake up, attend lecture after lecture, go straight to practice and then come back and fall asleep while Hermione does my work for me and I do the same thing everyday. I have no time to myself, you know?"

"I understand. I figured something was up when I received your last homework assignment. I'm sure you couldn't have possibly written a four page essay on defensive spells. Yes, you're father was the same way. Back in our fourth year, they had a chance at winning the cup. Before their last match, James was out for hours everyday for practice. When he came back to the Common Room, he was dead tired. But he still found time to be himself. He always had a smile and some evil plan for everyday, no matter how much his arms hurt. And we won."

"Why are you…?"

"Because if you are anything like your father, which according to all the professors, you are his reincarnation, you will be able to make things better. Things always get worse before they get better. You may not see how to make it work now, but you are like him, and therefore, you will make it work."

Wow, this was the first time I had a talk with a teacher where I wasn't getting yelled out. I liked this guy. I smirked at him, which I NEVER did to any of my other professors, and replied very quietly, "Thank you."

I was getting up to leave when Lupin said, "I'm always here for you and Harry. Oh…and good luck tomorrow."

Luck? Ha! We didn't need luck. We were Gryffindor! We could do anything. I quickly left his office before he found out that I had left a little surprise in his classroom and met up with everyone in the common room before Rachel, Harry and I headed out for our final practice before the match. Once practice was over, I immediately ran up to my bed and fell asleep.

---oOo---

That morning, I would have slept in and missed the match if Rachel hadn't used that snake spell Malfoy used last year to wake me up. I hated and thanked her for that. It was our first match against Hufflepuff. Normally it would have been against Slytherin, but because a certain weasel who shall remain nameless (DRACO MALFOY) was too injured to play, they moved the matches around. I hated Malfoy so much…in fact, I still do. Once we took the field, the crowd cheered for us. Once we were warmed up, Madam Hooch released the balls and began the game. It got brutal fast. I nearly got hit with a bludger a few times, but the twins set them away. It was looking promising until Harry got rammed into one of the towers, causing him to fall and break his arm. I passed the Quaffle to Rachel and flew down to Harry. "Harry! Harry! Are you alright?"

"I can't move my arm."

That wasn't good. "Can you still fly?"

Harry shook his head. That was REALLY not good. I watched as Madam Pomfrey came out onto the field and took Harry to the Hospital Wing when it hit me...literally! George had flown down to try and stop a bludger from hitting me when his bat hit me on the shoulder. It was painful, but gave me an idea. Quickly, I jumped on my broom and flew up to the rings where Wood flew. "Wood, Harry's hurt!"

"I can see that! Look, you have to…DUCK!"

I ducked as the Quaffle flew at Wood, causing him to catch it and throw it off to Katie. Once they flew away, he said to me, "Look, you need to work on getting enough points so as no matter if they catch the Snitch, we still win."

"Actually, I had a better idea. Let me take over the role as Seeker for just this once."

Wood looked at me like I was crazy. "When I was at the Weasley's, I was really good. I caught their Snitch almost every single time!"

"Yeah, but this isn't the Weasley's!"

"You don't think I don't know that! Just this once or we'll be out here for the rest of the day!"

I could see that Wood wasn't very fond of the idea, but what did he have to lose? After thinking it over, he replied, "Don't make me regret this!"

I smiled and flew high over the pitch, taking Harry's position. Everyone looked so small from up there. I watched as we made goal after goal. We were far ahead, but only by 50 points. And that's when I saw it. The Snitch was hovering over by the East tower where the professors sat. I leaned forward and sped as fast as I could towards the tower. The Snitch sensed me and flew off, causing me to chase it. I could see that the Hufflepuff seeker had noticed me and was coming after me and the Snitch. I knew that I had to catch it before him. I pushed my broom to the max, flying in circles around the arena. The Snitch was there, just inches in front of my fingers. Their seeker pushed me and I pushed back, causing him to lose control. He needed to learn how to control his broom while playing dirty. I focused on the Snitch, which was heading back towards the Professors. I got closer and closer, leaning as far as I could. The Snitch headed into their podium and I lunged.

I fell off my broom and into their stands, one hand clenching my broom and in the other, the little golden ball. I looked up to see that I had unfortunately fallen into the lap of Professor Snape, but I didn't care. I had caught the Snitch! I stood up and showed it to all. I could hear everyone clapping and cheering my name! I jumped back on my broom and flew down to the ground. The Gryffindor team followed me down and jumped off with me. The twins hoisted me on their shoulders and we jumped around in victory. This was the first time in Quidditch history that a Chaser had caught the Snitch. It was amazing. I felt like…well, like a hero. As I sat up there, the Hufflepuff seeker came up to me and held out his hand, shouting, "Well played."

I shook his hand and allowed the Gryffindors to carry me to the Common Room.

---oOo---

That night, the Common Room was hoist to a magnificent party. Loud music was playing, people were celebrating and congratulating me. The team had refused to shower and we remained in our stinking uniform, but no one cared. I was sitting with Ron and Hermione when Harry came walking up to us, his arm in a cast. "Congratulations, Elliot, I heard you saved the match."

I stood up and we shared a hug. "Thanks, but I prefer Chaser."

"That's good to hear."

Suddenly, I felt Fred and George grab my arm and haul me up onto the couch. George whistled over the crowd, quieting everyone as Fred announced, "Attention Gryffindors!"

All eyes turned to us. "As you know, our hero of the match today is none other than Miss Elliot Potter," he continued.

Everyone cheered, causing me to blush. I could see Amanda and Rachel laughing. "To thank her for her contribution," began George.

"George and I have a little something special to express our gratitude," finished Fred.

They turned and looked at me and I could the malicious intent in their eyes. "Ready Fred?"

"Ready, George." Suddenly, the jumped over the couch, turned and hoisted me onto their shoulders again. "PUT ME DOWN!"

But they didn't. They began to spin in circles, saying in a sing-song voice, "Put you down? NEVER!"

I screamed as everyone cheered and clapped. Finally, the set me back down, but I felt dizzy. Harry and Ron guided me back to the couch and sat me down as Hermione, Rachel and Amanda joined us. "Did you two put them up to that?" I asked Rachel and Amanda.

"We might have had something to do with it," smiled Rachel.

"You know I HATE IT when they do that."

"Relax, it was just for fun," replied Amanda.

We sat and talked and slowly, the party died. Once everyone retired and went to bed, we all retreated and fell asleep. For once for a long time, I felt at ease.

TBC…

**Please R&R!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

You would think that after saving Gryffindor from losing a Quidditch match, Professor McGonagall would let me go to Hogsmeade, but of course, I can't. I even tried to get her to sign it, but nope. "I can not sign it. Only a parent or a guardian can and since I am neither, I can't."

Same bloody excuse she gave Harry. Ron, Hermione, Rachel and Amanda gave us sympathetic looks, but I didn't care. I hated Mrs. Weasley at that moment in time. Harry and I decided that maybe it was time to go talk to Professor Lupin. I told him that Lupin knew our parents and maybe we could get an insight to what he was like. Thanks to Madam Pomfrey, she was able to mend Harry's arm quickly and now, he was out of a sling and in perfect health. Once we reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, we saw him leaving. "Professor, may we have I word with you?" I shouted as we ran up to him.

"Of course. I was actually just going to go outside and enjoy a bit of fresh air. Why don't you two come along?"

And so, we followed Lupin through the grounds to the bridge. It was a nice spot, a good place to talk, but it was a bit uncomfortable with a professor. The first part was a bit quiet, both me and Harry trying to figure out what we wanted to ask Lupin and once we stopped on the bridge, Harry asked, "Can I ask you a question?"

"You want to ask why I stopped you from facing that boggart?"

Harry and I looked at him in amaze. "I thought it was a bit obvious, wasn't it? I thought it would take the form of Lord Voldemort."

"And you lunged when Sirius Black showed up. Why?"

"Dementors can be harmful. I didn't want to have to explain to Dumbledore why I let a boggart kill a student. I'm surprise Lord Voldemort didn't appear for both of you."

"Well, I thought of him, then I remembered that night on the train," said Harry.

"And I remembered hearing Sirius Black was after us. That kind of defeats the whole Dark Lord thing when you have someone else who actually is ALIVE chasing you."

"Yes…yes it does. Well, it seems that what you both fear the most if fear itself. Very wise."

"That and snakes," I muttered.

"That night, on the train, we heard someone screaming before we fainted," continued Harry.

"Dementors force us to face our darkest memories. That is how they gain their power."

"I think we heard our Mum and Dad…the night they were murdered," replied Harry.

We both turned and saw Lupin studying us. "What?" I asked.

"You know, the first time I saw you two, I recognized you immediately. Not by your scars, but by your eyes, Harry. They're your mother Lily's. And Elliot…You are a spitting image of Lily herself when she was your age."

We both stared at him in with a smile. "Yes. I knew her. She was there for me at a time when no one else was. We used to talk for hours. She was not only a singularly gifted witch but an uncommonly kind woman. She had a way of seeing the beauty in whoever she met, even…and perhaps most especially…when that person couldn't see it in themselves."

We saw Lupin's eyes glaze in memory and then smile at us. **"**Which perhaps explains her affection for your father. James had, shall we say, a certain talent for trouble. A gift, rumor has it, he passed on to you, Elliot."

Lupin turned and smiled at us. "I could tell you stories…and there are many about your parents…but know this; they lived. Every moment of everyday. You both should know that. That's how they'd want to be remembered."

Our chat ended with Lupin announcing that he needed to retire. In fact, Harry and I were getting a bit hungry. We decided to head to the Great Hall to get something to eat before everyone came back. For the rest of the day, Harry and I talked about Lupin's information on our parents. For once, I forgot the fact they were dead. Finally, Ron, Hermione, Rachel and Amanda arrived back from Hogsmeade and we finally headed back towards the Common Room. "And the post office! It's about 200 owls, all sitting on color-coded shelves, depending on how fast you want your letter to go!" emphasized Hermione.

"And Honeyduke's is brilliant!Sugar Quills, Flaming Whizbees…and blood-flavored lollipops forHalloween!" smiled Ron.

Harry and I nodded, picking quietly through the spray of brilliantly colored sweets they had given us. Hermione must have noticed because she quickly said, "But, I mean, after awhile, it got a bit boring. Don't you three think?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Dead depressing.Hang on. I almost forgot. I gotyou something wicked at Dervishand Banges, Elliot. It's a PocketSneakoscope," said Ron.

Ron placed a small glass spinning top in my hand. "If there's someone untrustworthy around, it's meant to light up and spin. Mind you, Fred and George say it's rubbish, sold for wizard tourists, but I thought, you know, it can't hurt, given that..." started Ron.

"Sirius Black's trying to kill us. Thanks Ron," I smiled, "Listen I'm glad you had a good time. Really. And thanks for this. Rubbish or not, you're right. It can't hurt."

As we climbed the stairs, we found a crowd gathering on the Seventh Floor landing. "What do you think is holding us up?" asked Amanda.

"Neville's probably forgotten the password again," laughed Ron.

I laughed with him, only to stop when I spotted Neville glaring at us from behind. Percy pushed past us and shouted, "Let me through, please. Excuse me, thank you, I'm Head Boy...Back! All of you! No one is to enter this dormitory until it has been fully searched!"

We exchanged confused glances when Ginny emerged from the crowd, crying, "The Fat Lady... she's gone!"

We all looked shocked as we saw the portrait empty and torn. "Serves her right. She was a terrible singer," said Ron.

"It's not funny, Ron!" stated Hermione, punching Ron on the arm. Just then, Dumbledore appeared and pushed past. After he ran his hand across the torn portrait, he ordered, "Mr. Filch. Round up the ghosts. Tell them to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."

"There'll be no need for ghosts, Professor..." replied Filch, extending a crooked finger. High up, near the ceiling, the Fat Lady cowered in a portrait not her own, trembling behind a zebra. We all ran over to see her, Dumbledore leading the way. Once we approached the portrait, Dumbledore asked, "Dear lady. Who did this to you?"

The Fat Lady stood up and looked at us trembling. With a sound of fear in her voice, she told us, "Eyes like the devil he's got. And a soul as dark as his name. It was him, Headmaster. The one they talk about. He's here. Somewhere in the castle. Sirius Black!"

I looked at my friends with a look of fear in my eyes. Sirius Black here in Hogwarts! I wanted to faint. "Secure the castle, Mr. Filch. Therest of you... to the Great Hall," ordered Dumbledore.

We quickly ran down the staircase, hoping to get away from where Sirius Black.

---oOo---

That night, we all lay together with the rest of the Gryffindors. Rachel and Amanda cuddled close to Fred and George, the twins' arms wrapped around Rachel and Amanda to keep them safe. Harry and I lay with our eyes open, listening to Snape and Dumbledore. "I've done the dungeons,Headmaster. No sign of Black. Nor anywhere else in the castle," said Snape.

"I didn't really expect him tolinger."

"Remarkable feat, don't you think?To enter Hogwarts castle on one'sown, completely undetected...You may recall, prior to the startof term, I did express my concernswhen you appointed Professor…"

"I do not believe a singleprofessor inside this castlewould have helped SiriusBlack enter it, Severus. No... I feel quite confident thecastle is safe. And I'm more thanwilling to let the students returnto their Houses. But tomorrow.For now, let them sleep...It's astonishing what the body canendure when the mind allows itselfto rest."

I stared at Harry, asking with my eyes what Snape meant by which Professor he didn't want to be here.

---oOo---

That next day, Dumbledore hand-picked our new guardian. Unfortunately, he was the most annoying portrait ever. "What villains are these that trespass upon my private lands?!"

We all stood around his portrait, staring at him with a look of him being crazy. "Who dares challenge Sir Cadogan! Back, you scurvy braggarts! You rogues!" he shouted, pointing his sword at me.

"He's barking mad!" shouted Seamus.

"What d'you expect? After what happened to the Fat Lady, none of the other pictures would take the job," replied Seamus.

"But he keeps changing thepassword. Twice just thismorning! I've taken to keeping alist," said Neville, holding up a bit of parchment.

Finally, Rachel and Amanda left the Common Room. "Farewell, comrades! If ever you have need of noble heart and steely sinew, call upon Sir Cadogan!"

"Yeah, we'll call you... if we everneed someone mental," laughed Ron beneath his breath. We were heading towards Defense Against the Dark Arts, but unfortunately, I wasn't going to enjoy it.

TBC…

**Please R&R!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Now, normally I enjoyed going to Defense Against the Darks Arts, but today…well, why don't I just explain it to you. Today, we all sat around, smiling and talking excitedly in the classroom when the doors burst open. I for sure thought it was Lupin, but when I turned, I was shocked to see that it was none other than Professor Snape. He walked past us, flicking his wand to shut the blinds to the windows. Clearly he liked a dark classroom. Once he reached the front, he pulled down the projector screen and turned to the class, stating in his monotone voice, "Turn to page 394."

As Snape began to walk towards the projector in the back, Harry leant over and asked as he passed, "Excuse me, sir, but... where's Professor Lupin?"

"That's not really your concern, is it, Potter? Suffice it to say, your Professor finds himself incapable of teaching at the present time. Page 394."

As Snape walked off, me and Ron began to flip through our books to the page. I glanced at the empty desk in front of us and the empty seat next to Harry. Where were Rachel, Amanda and Hermione? Clearly, Snape wasn't happy that I had turned to my page yet and flicked his wand, causing both Ron's and my book to flip to the open page. Ron stared down at the book and asked, "Werewolves?"

Suddenly, Hermione's voice shrilled, "But, sir, we've only just begun learning about Red Caps and Hinkypunks. We're not meant to start nocturnal beasts for weeks!"

"Quiet!" shouted Harry.

Then I noticed Rachel and Amanda were sitting in front of us. Ron turned to Harry and asked, "When did they come in? Did you see them come in?"

Harry shook his head. Ron looked at me and I replied, "No!"

Suddenly, Snape asked, "Now. Which of you can tell me the difference between an Animagus and a werewolf?"

As we stared mutely at a slide of an attacking werewolf, I could see Hermione waiting desperately for someone to respond to Snape's question. After no one raised their hands, Hermione raised hers. Of course, Snape ignored hers and stated, "No one? How... disappointing."

Then, Hermione stated, "Please, sir, an Animagus is a wizard who elects to turn into an animal. A werewolf has no choice in the matter. Furthermore, the werewolf actively hunts humans and responds only to the call of its own kind…"

Suddenly, I heard Malfoy imitate a werewolves' howl. I rolled my eyes as Snape replied, "Quiet, Malfoy! Though one must admit to feeling your pain. That is the second time you have spoken out of turn, Miss Granger. Tell me. Are you incapable of restraining yourself? Or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?"

Ron turned to me and muttered, "He's got a point, you know."

I hit him hard in the ribs, causing him to look away in pain as Snape shouted, "Five points from Gryffindor! As an antidote to your ignorance, I prescribe two rolls of parchment on the werewolf by Monday morning, with particular emphasis placed on recognizing it."

Everyone moaned in agony. I then spoke up, "But sir, it's Quidditch tomorrow!"

"Then you had better get it done, Miss Potter. Broken limbs will not be excused."

Finally, class was over and I smiled at Hermione. "Forget it, Elliot, I'm not writing your essay for you…though I guess I could write out an outline for you."

"Hermione, you are a life saver!" I smiled as we headed towards our next class. For the rest of the day, we went to our other classes, me completely ignoring the lesson and focusing my attention on the match tomorrow. It was the night before and while I studied the outline Hermione had so generously made for me, I glanced out the window and saw storm clouds rolling our way.

---oOo---

The weather for the match couldn't have gotten any worse. Lightning bolts flew form the sky, one striking one of the golden Quidditch rings. The clouds bloomed with an icy blue light. Far below in the stands, I could see a flood of umbrellas. Someone must have let go because one flew into the sky near where we were playing. It was us Gryffindors against Ravenclaw, seeing as how Malfoy was still unfit to play. And the weather just got worse from there. Rachel, Katie and I had a hard time passing the Quaffle from one another and throwing them at the rings. At least I didn't have Harry's job. He had to find the Snitch in this weather. Then, I saw a gleam of red fly into the sky. It was Harry chasing the Snitch. At least he could see. I had just received the Quaffle and was heading towards the hoops when I spotted a black dog in the stands watching. It seemed a bit weird until I felt an icy presence. Looking down, I saw something that made my heart skip a beat. Dementors. Dementors flooding the Quidditch pitch. I froze in place and watched as some of them flew into the air…towards Harry! I couldn't believe it! I then watched as suddenly, Harry fell from his broom and started heading back towards Earth. I quickly passed the Quaffle off to Rachel and went as fast as I could towards Harry. I managed to get under him just in time, but when I caught him, I lost my balance and fell as well. Harry was already unconscious but once I hit the ground, everything went black.

---oOo---

The moment I woke up, I was in the Hospital Wing. The last time I was here from a Quidditch incident was last year. I looked down and saw my arm was in a sling. The moment I sat up, Rachel and Amanda came into view. Rachel was still in her Quidditch uniform, as was I and the rest of the team. Amanda still was dressed head to toe in red and gold. "Elliot! You're alright!" sighed Rachel.

"How's Harry?"

But they didn't answer. Slowly, I slid my feet over the side of the bed, much to Rachel and Amanda's protests and walked over to where everyone else was huddled. Lying on the bed was Harry, still unconscious. "How is he?" I asked Fred and George.

They both shrugged. Ron, who was standing in front of them, then proceeded to state, "Looks a bit peaky, doesn't he?"

"Peaky? What d'you expect him to look like? He fell fifty feet," stated Fred.

"Yeah, c'mon, Ron. We'll walk you off the Astronomy Tower and see how you come out looking," replied George.

"I wouldn't protest to that as long as I get to push him," I muttered.

Then, Harry's voice from the bed said, "Probably a right sight better than he normally does."

We all laughed as Harry opened his eyes and focused on us. "How're you feeling?" asked Hermione.

As he slowly sat up, using his arms to support himself, he replied, "Brilliant."

"You both gave us a right good scare, mates," stated Fred to both of us as Amanda snuggled herself under his arm.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You fell off your broom! Then Elliot tried to catch you, but she lost her balance and fell too," explained Ron.

I smirked as Harry looked at me. He then replied sarcastically, "Really? I meant the match. Who won?"

There was an uncomfortable silence. I didn't even know the answer to that one. Hermione slowly backed a step and said, "No one blames you, Harry. The Dementors aren't meant to come on the grounds. Dumbledore was furious. After he saved both of you, he sent them straight off."

That only meant that Ravenclaw won the match. Damn. Harry nodded grimly as he stared at the rain lashing against the window. I felt exactly the same way he did. Then, Ron took a step forward, carrying a blanket bundled over something. I looked over as he said, "There's something else you should both know. Your Nimbuses…when it blew away...Harry's sort of landed in the Whomping Willow while Elliot's smashed into on of the observation towers. And well..."

He then proceeded to open the sheet to reveal broken splintered wood and twisted twigs. That meant we had no more brooms. I hung my head low and turned to look out at he rain. Great! Not only do I have a broken arm and we lost the match, but we didn't have any bloody brooms!

---oOo---

That next day, Harry and I went to visit Lupin. We just wanted to make sure he was feeling alright. The moment we arrived, he suggested we walked outside. He wanted the fresh air that he had been denied because of his sickness. So we walked with him out to the lake. Fall was rolling off and winter was rolling in. I could tell because it was already getting cold. Once we reached the shoreline of the lake, Lupin said, "I'm sorry about your brooms. There's no chance of fixing them?"

We shook our heads. Our Nimbus 2000s were finished. They were such great brooms. Lupin sighed as we saw Hedwig flying towards us. If only those stupid Dementors hadn't shown up. And as if Harry had read my mind, he asked, "Why do they affect us so, Professor? I mean more than everyone else..."

"Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They feed on every good feeling, every happy memory, until a person is left with nothing but his worst experiences. You're not weak, Harry. Nor you, Elliot. The Dementors affect you two the most because there are true horrors in your pasts. Horrors your classmates can scarcely imagine. You have nothing to be ashamed of.

Sure we didn't! Then, I finally muttered, "I'm scared, Professor."

"I'd consider you a fool if you weren't, Elliot."

I really was. I wasn't fooling around. Then the idea occurred to me. "We need to learn how to fight them. You could teach us, Professor. You made that Dementors on the train go away..."

"I don't pretend to be an expert, Elliot. But yes, I can teach you. Both of you. Perhaps after the holiday, though. For now, though, I need to rest. I'm feeling... tired."

We both turned and silently thanked Lupin. He didn't look too good. I don't blame him. He was sick and probably found out about that horrid assignment Snape had given to us. But unlike most teachers, I wasn't going to push him. Because I respected him. He knew my parents and was almost like a father towards me. For once, I hoped he would stay at Hogwarts as a teacher. Together, we watched as Hedwig flew around us. This would be one of the most beautiful sights I would lay eyes on for a long time.

TBC…

**Please R&R!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

It was the second Hogsmeade trip this year. The one where everyone went to buy Christmas presents for each other. Harry and I, of course, couldn't go. How I hated watching them go without us. We watched from the Clock Tower as the students ran towards the station. If only I was invisible…and then the thought occurred to me. As if Harry knew what I was thinking he turned and smiled. "You want to go to Hogsmeade?" I asked him.

Quickly, we ran towards the Gryffindor Common Room, passed Sir Codagon and I ran up to my room where the cloak lay. Once it was in my hand, I draped it over our shoulders and we quickly made our way to the Courtyard. We were finally going to Hogsmeade! As we walked through the double doors to the courtyard, we slowed our pace. It was snowing and we didn't want anyone to notice the snow was stopping on something and moving in a horizontal direction. We noticed Fred and George making a snowman and we slowly tried to make our way past them. But then, suddenly, Fred and George lunged at us and grabbed us by our arms and dragging us backwards. "Who thought of this idea?" asked Fred.

"Elliot, who else do you think?" replied George.

"Well, it's clever, Elliot."

"But not clever enough."

"Besides, we've got a better way."

"Oh come on, guys, we want to go to Hogsmeade!" I gritted.

"We know!" they replied in unison.

Harry and I tried to fight to get away, but they pulled us out of the snow and into the corner by the stairway. "Now, come play with the big boys," they smiled.

Once they pulled the Invisibility Cloak from around us, I shouted, "What the bloody hell are you two doing!"

They silenced us and as George looked around, Fred handed me a parchment. "What's this rubbish?" I asked.

"Rubbish she says. That there's the secret to our success," replied Fred.

"It's a wrench giving it to you, believe me," continued George.

"But we've decided your need's greater than ours. George, if you will..."

George whipped out his wand and placed it on the parchment in my hands while clearly stating, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Suddenly, intricate ink lines surfaced on the fiber of the paper, spreading like veins. Harry and I looked down as Harry read, "'Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present The Marauder's Map'...?"

"Ah... Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. We owe them so much," sighed George.

I opened the map and studied it. It was then that I noticed what it was. "Hang on. This is Hogwarts! And that... No. Is that really...?" I asked, pointing to a moving dot on the map with the label "DUMBLEDORE."

"Dumbledore," replied Fred.

"In his study," continued George.

"Pacing."

"Does that a lot."

Harry and I looked at them like they were mad. "You mean, this map shows..." began Harry.

"Everyone," stated Fred.

"Everyone?" I asked.

"Everyone," smiled George.

"Where they are," continued Fred.

"What they're doing."

"Every minute."

"Of every day."

I couldn't believe it. "This is brilliant! Where'd you get it?" I asked.

"Nicked it from Filch's office, of course, first year. Now listen. There's seven secret passageways out of the castle. But we'd recommend..." started Fred.

"This one," they both finished and pointed to. "The One-Eyed Witch on the third floor," took over George.

"But you best hurry. Filch is heading this way. Oh. And, Elliot? When you're done, make sure to give it a tap and say, 'Mischief managed.' Otherwise, anyone can read it," they both replied.

Before they left, I asked, "Why are you giving this to me?"

"Consider it an early Christmas gift for the both of you."

And with that, they left. Together, we reopened the map, swore the oath, replaced the Invisibility Cloak and made our way towards the One-Eyed Witch. As usual, the halls were empty. Almost everyone was gone. Finally, we just arrived at the Divination Stairwell and approached the statue. "How do we get it to move?" I asked.

Harry looked down at the map in my hands and found the two dots that were labeled "HARRY POTTER" and "ELLIOT POTTER" and saw a speech bubble appear with the word, "DISSENDIUM." I stared at Harry as I asked, "Dissendium?"

Suddenly, the statue slid forward and revealed a dark hole that lay beneath it. I smirked as we slowly made our way into the hole. The passage led to a dark tunnel. Harry and I pulled out our wands and used the Lumos spell so that we could see where we were bloody going. Finally, a light appeared in front of us and when we looked at it, we found that we were in Honeydukes! The candy shop! We remained hidden as we moved through the back room and into the shop. There was candy everywhere! I almost removed the cloak when Harry grabbed my arm and hissed, "Do you want to get caught? We'll come back later!"

I nodded and we made our way outside. Once we were in an area where we could reveal ourselves, we removed the cloak, muttered, "Mischief Managed," to hid the map and stared in wonder. Hogsmeade was amazing! There were shops and so many people! However, we weren't sure where Ron, Hermione, Rachel and Amanda were. "Where do you think they are?" I asked.

It was then that we saw Malfoy heading off somewhere with his two goons behind him. He had that smirk on his face that always meant trouble. However, I thought of a brilliant plan. Quickly, I covered Harry and I with the cloak and slowly followed them. They headed through the forest to an old shack. The Shrieking Shack. There, we saw Ron and Hermione. I could barely overhear Hermione state, "It's meant to be the most haunted building in Britain. Did I mention that?"

"Twice." I stifled a laugh. Only Hermione would say something intelligent twice. Then, Hermione asked, "Should we move a bit closer?"

"Huh? Oh... All right..." I had to laugh. Ron's mind was such an idiot sometimes. We watched as they took two steps closer and Ron then said, "Actually, it's fine from here."

"Perfect."

We then watched as Draco moved towards them. As h began to head towards them, I turned to Harry beneath the cloak and whispered, "Make as many snowballs as you can."

"Why?"

"Revenge is best served cold."

As we rounded up as many snowballs as we could, I continued to overhear their conversation. "Well, well. Look who's here. You two shopping for your dream home? Seems a bit grand for you, Weasel-Bee. Don't your family all sleep in one room?"

Now my ears were turning red. "Shut your mouth, Malfoy."

"Now that's not very friendly. Boys, I think we're going to have to teach Weasel-Bee to respect his superiors."

"Hope you don't mean yourself!"

GO HERMIONE! Then, Draco set it off. "How dare you speak to me, you filthy, little mud…"

But I didn't let him finish. I fired a snowball right at his head. The moment it hit him, he turned to see where it came from. Since me and Harry were invisible, he didn't see a thing. He then whimpered, "Who did that!"

I turned to Harry and whispered, "On my signal, you fire the rest of these snowballs at him, but stay hidden. I'm going to go have some fun."

I then took the cloak and draped it over myself as I headed forward. Malfoy was still in shock. The moment I was in place, I let my feet be seen. Harry then fired as many snowballs as he could. Malfoy was scared to death! I then took my moment and ran up to them. I first took out Crabbe and Goyle. I tripped them to where they wre both on the ground. I then pulled Goyle's hat over his head and dropped his trousers. I could hear Hermione and Ron laughing. I then tripped Crabbe once more as I grabbed Malfoy and shoved him to the ground. Once he was done, I flipped him and pulled him closer to the Shrieking Shack. He was screaming like a baby girl. Once I was close enough to my comfort, I let him go and watched as he ran away whimpering with Crabbe and Goyle. Once they were gone, I snuck up behind Ron and Hermione who were laughing. For some laughs and giggles, I started toying with the fluff balls on Ron's hat. He was scared too! I then started playing with Hermione's hair, who caught the gist, but wrongly shouted, "HARRY!"

I watched as Harry appeared over the clearing and waved with a smile. Ron turned to look at me and screamed. Hermione, however, laughed, "Elliot!"

Laughing, I removed the cloak and took a bow. "Bloody hell, Elliot, that was not funny!"

"Oh yes it was!"

Together, we made our way to Hogsmeade in which we told Hermione and Ron all about Fred and George and the Marauder's Map. "Those weasels! Never told me about any Marauder's Map!" exclaimed Ron.

"But Elliot isn't going to keep it. She's going to turn it over to Professor McGonagall, aren't you?" replied Hermione, glaring at me.

"Oh sure. Along with my invisibility cloak, my pack of exploding snap cards, my…" I began.

"Oh, shut up!" she sighed.

Just then, Rachel and Amanda came out from a shop and smiled when they saw Harry and me. Without a word, they came up and gave us each a hug. "How did you get here?" asked Amanda.

Before I could reply, I heard the ever familiar voice of Fudge shout, "Rosmerta, m'dear!"

We looked up ahead to see Cornelius Fudge emerging from a Ministy sleigh, Hagrid swinging the door clear and ripping it clean off the fittings. When he stepped down, he joined McGonagall and Madam Rosemerta. I then went on to tease, "Oh look, it's Madam Rosmerta. Ron fancies her."

"It's not true!"

But Harry and Rachel shushed us as we listened. "I trust business is good?" asked Fudge.

"It'd be a right sight better if the Ministry wasn't sending Dementors into my pub every other night," she replied, causing Fudge to step back into a pile of horse dung. "Ah, but we have a killer on the loose."

"Sirius Black? In Hogsmeade! And what would bring him here?"

McGonagall and Fudge looked around and whispered something, which Rosemerta shouted, "Harry and Elliot Potter!"

They shushed her and pushed her inside the pub. Something was up and Harry and I were about to find out. While everyone was still staring, I draped the cloak over Harry and my shoulders and followed them in. I felt a tad bit guilty for leaving them all behind, but I wanted to know. We hurried on, trailing Fudge and McGonagall up a dark stairwell as Rosmerta leads them into a small back room. As the door started to close, Harry and I rushed forward, barely missing the door from closing. Quickly, we hid in the corner and listened as they started their conversation. "Come on then. Let's hear it," stated Rosemerta.

"Years ago, when the Potter's parents were marked for death, they went into hiding. Few knew where they were. One who did was Black. And he told..." began McGonagall.

"You-Know-Who. I've heard this rot. It was all over The Daily Prophet back in the day. And I'll say now what I said then: Of all the boys I ran out of here, Black's the last who would've gone over to the dark side. Hearsay. That's all the Ministry had. Hearsay."

"Ha! Tell that to Peter Pettigrew!" chimed in Fudge.

"Peter Pettigrew?"

"Little lump of a boy? Always tagging after Black and..." replied McGonagall.

"I remember him. What's he got to do with it?"

"After the Potters were killed, Pettigrew went looking for Black. And, unfortunately... found him," continued McGonagall.

"Black was vicious. He didn't kill Pettigrew. He destroyed him. A finger. That's all that was left. A finger…there's your hearsay," replied Fudge.

Rosmerta looked to McGonagall. "Sirius Black may not have put his hands to the Potters, but he's the reason they're dead. And now he wants to finish what he started."

"Harry and Elliot."

"But that's not the worst of it," replied Fudge.

We looked on. "The Potters are not the only ones in danger. Black had another friend; Andromeda Sinclair," began Fudge.

Sinclair? As in Rachel? I paid more attention than ever before. "She went into hiding as well, for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named came after her and her daughter as well. Black, however, did not know that Andromeda had sent her daughter off with Dumbledore, but now he does and has come to finish her too, no matter if her godfather is on Hogwarts' grounds," he continued.

"On grounds? As in a Professor?" asked Rosemerta.

"Remus Lupin," replied McGonagall.

I nearly fell over. Professor Lupin was Rachel's godfather! I almost fell over laughing! But that's not all she had to say. Rosemerta asked, "I suspect there is something even worse."

"Yes there is. It is this: Sirius Black was and remains today... Harry and Elliot Potter's godfather."

That was enough for both of us. Quickly, we made our way out of the room and out of the pub, not caring that doors were opening by invisible people. As we got into the snow, we pushed through the carolers and made our way to the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Once we were out of town, I ran from underneath the cloak and climbed a tree. I wanted to give Harry as much space as humanly possible. As I sat there, I watched as Ron, Hermione, Rachel and Amanda came running and looked straight at the invisible Harry. I sat in silence as Hermione approached him and removed the cloak. It was at that moment that Harry said, "He was their friend. And he betrayed them. He was their friend!"

Harry's voice echoed through the forest. With what I could tell was his angry voice, he replied, "I hope he finds me. Because when he does, I'm going to be ready. When he does, I'm going to kill him!"

I felt exactly the same way, but I was holding it all in. That what I always did. I watched as Rachel and Amanda turned around and spotted me in the tree. Quickly, they came to the base of the tree and shouted, "Elliot, come down!"

I ignored them and looked away. "Elliot, you're going to have to come down at some point," stated Amanda.

I sighed as I jumped from my branch and fell on the ground in front of them. Once I was in their face, they asked, "How are you?"

"Angry. Confused. Vengeful. You take your bloody pick. Oh, but I do have to admit that am I somewhat amused."

Amanda and Rachel looked at my like was crazy. "Amused? How can you be amused? You're father's best friend betrayed your parents," said Amanda.

"Not by that, but Black…he's after Rachel here too. Oh, and the best part; your godfather, Rachel…it's Professor Lupin! So, I can finally laugh at something."

I probably shouldn't have told her that right then and there, but I was so angry and furious that I needed to make someone else feel somewhat close as to what I am feeling. Amanda looked at Rachel in shock and Rachel nearly fell flat on her face. "You're joking right?" she squeaked.

I shook my head with the most disgusting grin I could ever pull off. I don't think I ever made that face again and I am so glad that I didn't. Finally, McGonagall's voice came echoing, sounding the return to Hogwarts. Amanda, Rachel, Ron and Hermione were about to leave when Hermione asked, "Will you two be alright?"

As much as it was a lie, I nodded and quickly, I covered both Harry and I up and we headed back to the tunnel towards Hogwarts. All the while, I thought of how Sirius Black had better hope he doesn't find us because when he does, he'll be sorry for the day he betrayed our parents.

TBC…

**Please R&R!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The moment we got back into the Gryffindor Common Room, there was an awkward silence that filled the room. I didn't blame any of us. Harry and I had a mental breakdown at Hogsmeade today. I wouldn't know what to say to us either if I was them. We sat in silence for a few minutes and then I announced I was heading to bed. I wanted to be alone when I went to sleep. Christmas was coming up and I wanted to get a hold of myself so that I could enjoy the holiday. The moment my head hit the pillow, I was fast asleep, but it wouldn't be pleasant. In my dream, I was flying on a broom, Harry on one side of me and Mum and Dad on the other. We were flying together as a family. I looked down and saw Sirius Black whispering something to a tall figure clothed in black. I guessed it was Voldemort. Voldemort pointed his wand into the sky and I watched as a jet of green light hit father, then mother, then Harry, each sending them down to the ground dead. Before I could do anything I watched as a jet hit me. I fell and heard Sirius Black laughing loudly. I woke up with a start, sweating profusely. Hermione, Rachel and Amanda were still asleep. I was happy they were. I didn't to explain my dream to them. I tried to fall back asleep, but the laughter of Black rang in my ears. I couldn't fall asleep. The laughter of Sirius Black rang through my head and I kept seeing myself falling. Because of these thoughts, I stayed up the entire night. I didn't even realize it either until the sun shone through the tower window and into our dormitory.

I was the first one up, of course, and I immediately headed down into the common room. Everyone was getting ready to head out to go home for the holidays. The Weasleys, Harry, Rachel, Amanda and I were, of course staying. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were both going to Romania to visit Charlie again. Something about a dragon he wanted them to see. Anyway, Hermione would be leaving that morning and she had sworn she would send our presents by owls the moment she got back. And that's when it hit me! I didn't get presents on our last trip out to Hogsmeade. I was a bit carried away by the news of Sirius Black and Voldemort. No one was going out today, so the only way to get my presents was to go myself. That would be tricky…for ones without the Marauders' Map and an Invisibility Cloak. Good thing I had both. Quickly, I ran upstairs and saw Hermione, Rachel and Amanda starting to head downstairs. "Bloody Hell, Elliot, you look tired!" stated Rachel.

I didn't acknowledge her and quickly grabbed both tools. "Where are you going?" asked Amanda with an accusing tone.

"Uh…Hospital Wing. I'm not feeling well. Have a good holiday, Hermione!"

Before they could ask me anymore questions, I ran out of the dormitory as fast as I could and through the portal before Ron or Harry could stop me. Once I was outside, I threw my cloak over my shoulders, pulled out the map and muttered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The map came to life with hundreds of dots in the common rooms, Great Hall and the train. However, the area around the Humpbacked Witch was clear. I smiled and quickly made my way down the Grand Staircase. I was almost caught by a lot of people, what with the cloak swishing past everyone and my feet appearing a couple times, but I made it without getting stopped. The moment I reached the statue, I muttered, "Mischief managed," followed by "_Dissendium_" to head into the passage. The long passage seemed shorter than before and sooner than I thought, I was walking out to door to Honeydukes.

The streets were barren, due to the lack of students out today. I had to be cautious when I was out here. After all, apparently I am famous and everyone knows what I look like. Quickly, I pulled out my hat from my coat pocket and wrapped my scarf around my neck. Hopefully I wouldn't be recognized. I was just starting to walk down the abandoned street when I heard a growl from behind me. Slowly, I turned on my heel and saw a big, black dog staring at me. Slowly, it got closer and closer. Without thinking, I made a run for it towards the woods. The dog chased after me with haste. I continued running until I came to the fence that blocked the way towards the Shrieking Shack. I turned and saw the dog had stopped and was no advancing on me slowly. His eyes seemed so familiar...but I couldn't place them. This was it. This was the end. I closed my eyes and cringed until I heard a voice shouted, _"Stupefy!"_

The sound of a spell flew and I heard the dog run off. Slowly, I opened my eyes to thank my savior until I saw who it was. It was Professor Lupin! I was in big trouble now. Not only had I snuck out of bed, but I snuck out of Hogwarts completely. He looked furious and I knew that I was dead meat. "Elliot Potter, what in Merlin's name are you doing out here?"

I had no response. If I tried to explain it to him, I would get into even more trouble by saying I went yesterday. "No, forget that. HOW did you get here?"

"I found a secret passage that led away from Hogwarts into here," I lied. Well, I did find it, but with the help of the Marauders Map. Of course, I wasn't going to tell him about that. He would take it away and I would never be able to sneak out again. "Have you forgotten that there is a murderer on the loose that is looking for you and Harry? What do you think would have happened if he caught you? Your father protected you and this seems a very poor way to repay him."

I hung my head in shame. "I'm sorry, sir. I don't know what I was thinking."

What a load of bull. Of course I knew what I was thinking. I thought it out perfectly. I just didn't expect a teacher to be wandering around Hogsmeade at a time like this. I should have doubled check to see if all the teachers were actually in Hogwarts. "You're going to have McGonagall expel me, aren't you?"

I looked up to see that even though Lupin's face was angry, he showed no signs of doing anything like that. "Not this time. But you do need consequences for your actions. Twenty points from Gryffindor and you will be spending detention with me after the holidays."

I nodded. "Until then, I will be your escort through Hogsmeade. I'm guessing you're here to get presents for Christmas, aren't you."

Again, I nodded, but this time, I had a big smile on my face. "Come."

Together, we walked through Hogsmeade through several shops. I went into Zonko's Joke Shop and bought several presents for Fred, George, Rachel and Amanda. After Zonko's, I headed to the bookstore and bought _Stress Relief for the High Maintenance_for Hermione, a book on the Chudley Cannons for Ron and _101 Ways to Get Rid of Annoying Pests_ for Harry and myself. Thought it might come in handy for Malfoy. Finally, Lupin took me over to Madam Rosemerta's Pub and bought me a Butterbeer. It was the tastiest drink I have ever had. We sat down and enjoyed the warmth of the pub. All the while, I had several questions I wanted to ask him. Finally, the first question blurted out. "Are you really Rachel's Godfather?"

I should not have asked that question. Lupin looked at me and asked, "How did you find out?"

"I overheard some students gossiping in the halls at Hogwarts."

LIE! However, it worked on Lupin. "I do not know how they found out, but yes…Rachel's mother, Felicity, asked me to be her Godfather after she was born. Her father was a deranged man who would be looking for her. Andromeda wanted to keep her safe. A year later, Felicity was killed. Rachel was saved by Dumbledore. I asked if I could take her home with me, but he said in order to keep her safe, she would have to grow up away from all of this. I knew he was right, so I obliged."

"Why don't you take her home with you now?"

"She doesn't know…not yet, at least. When she knows and she is ready, she is welcome at my home anytime."

I felt my heart sink. Rachel knew…because I blurted it out to her in anger. This time, I couldn't lie to him. "Rachel…does know…"

Lupin turned his attention towards me with a look of shock. "She does? How?"

"I may have let it slip last night…"

I was waiting for another lecture from Professor Lupin, but instead, he smiled at me. "Good."

Good? How was me blurting that out to her good? Well, whatever it was, Lupin was fine with it. That saved me from being lectured by him or anyone else. After taking a drink of his Butterbeer, Lupin looked down at his watch and smiled, "Is that really the time? Elliot, it is time for us to go back. I suggest you go back the way you came…and use that invisibility cloak of yours to make sure you don't get seen. I shall be seeing you after the break."

With a smile, Lupin left me to walk out alone and hide underneath the cloak. I wanted to ask him more, but our meeting was cut short. However, I had a feeling that my detention would be where I was going to get all the information I needed.

---o0o---

It seemed that the moment I arrived back in the Gryffindor Common Room, they all knew exactly what I did. Harry and Ron gave me a pat on the back…along with Fred and George. However, Rachel, Amanda and Hermione were furious. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" shouted Hermione right at me.

"Do you want to get caught by a professor?" asked Rachel.

"Or do you have a death wish!" concluded Amanda.

Before I could say anything, they rattled off how Sirius Black could have found me and killed me, or how Professor McGonagall could have caught me and expelled me, which wouldn't have been any better. Quickly, I escaped the three loons and ran off with the boys. Fred, George, Harry, Ron and I decided that we were going to head down to the lake and enjoy the snow. They had originally asked Rachel, Amanda and Hermione to join, but they both said they had homework to do for Ancient Runes, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Arithmency and so on. So, once we were outside, we started with a brutal out for yourself snowball fight. Ron laughed when he hit me, but when his face fell when I pelted him with six snowballs. Once we were done with that, we were ice skating on the lake. I always loved the winter at Hogwarts. It was a time for fun and enjoyment. Harry and I took a break while Fred and George started chasing Ron around the lake, trying to catch him and toy with him. As we sat and watched, I said to Harry, "Lupin saw me in Hogsmeade."

"He saw you?"

"Don't tell anyone. I have detention with him after the break, but he covered for me."

"So you're not in trouble?"

"Not really."

Harry nodded and looked away. "Did you see Black?"

I shook my head. However, I left out the part about the attack from the Black Dog and how his eyes seemed familiar. After another moment of silence, Harry asked me, "What were you doing up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep. Bad dream."

"Was it us flying with our parents and Black telling a hooded figure and then the hooded figure shot us all down?"

I turned in shock. "How did you…?"

"I had the same dream."

"Guess we really are twins."

There was an awkward silence. Normally when Harry and I had one of these, we were both thinking of something. Then, he blurted out, "You know what I don't understand?"

"No, what?"

"Why would their best friend…OUR godfather…betray them? Surely he must have known our parents were hiding from Voldemort."

"Does it matter? He did! That's all that matters. When we meet him, I won't ask why. I'll just make him suffer."

Just then, Ron fell on the ice, causing all of us to erupt into laughter. Harry and I got up to help him off the ice. It was quite funny. Once Ron and the twins were off the ice, we headed to the Great Hall and got some Hot Cocoa. Rachel and Amanda were nowhere to be found. After our hot cocoa was gone, we headed to the Common Room and played some chess. Of course, Ron won every game. The day went by quickly and before I knew it, I was in the dormitory, falling asleep. My dreams were pleasant. After all, tomorrow was Christmas Eve.

TBC…

**Please R&R!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

If there was any good that came out of Christmas Eve, it was that I now felt relieved. All my troubles seemed to have disappeared that day. After all, it was Christmas Eve. All day, Rachel, Amanda, Fred, George, Ron, Harry and I spent time together in the Common Room. Most everyone had gone home for the holidays, which meant more fun for us. Also, Percy "Big Head" Head Boy Weasley was out with his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, most of the time, which meant we could get away with so much more trouble. We lit Filibuster Fireworks, played loud music and did everything that would have got us in trouble if Percy were around. Once the day was done, we headed down to the Great Hall and enjoyed the feast. My face dropped when I saw Malfoy sitting at the Slytherin table. "What is HE doing here?" I asked.

"Didn't you hear? Malfoy's father is under heavy scrutiny from the Ministry because of last year. Malfoy's parents didn't want him around during that," explained Rachel.

I turned and looked at her in confusion. "How do YOU know that?"

But Rachel didn't answer. Once the feast was over, we retreated to the Common Room. Rachel, Amanda, Fred and George decided to go to bed early while Harry, Ron and I sat by the fire, watching the Marauder's Map. It was quite amusing to see Lupin and Snape's bubbles in Lupin's office. No doubt they were in a heated discussion. Those two never got along ever since the first day. The night dwindled on until we were all falling asleep. After I closed the map, I bid the boys goodnight and headed to my four post. As much as my dream was pleasant, it reminded me of what I would never have. Harry and I were running down the stairs of our home and saw Mum and Dad holding presents for us. I ran to Dad and he said to me, "Merry Christmas, Elliot."

I woke up with a pain in my gut. Sirius Black took that away from us and I was going to make sure he paid for it. As I got out of bed and headed down the stairs, I saw I was the first one up. The common room was full of presents, but what caught my eye were two large packages badly wrapped in brown paper leaning against the wall. As I approached them, I saw Harry and my names on them. I was about to unwrap it when everyone came downstairs. "You're up early," stated Harry.

I was about to pick up the large package and open it, but Fred and George pulled me away and Fred said, "You know the rules."

"One at a time," finished George.

Before I could protest, a package was thrown on my lap from the Weasleys. Sure enough, it was another Weasley sweater. Mine was blue again while Rachel's was green, Amanda's bright red, Ron's maroon, Ginny's purple, Fred and George light blue, Percy's yellow and Harry's scarlet, each with our first initial embroidered in white. By the end of the present opening, I had a new prankster kit from Zonkos from the twins, a bag of assorted treats from Honeydukes from Rachel, a book called _Prankster's Guide to Magical Mayhem_ from Amanda, another book from Hermione called _Study Tips for the Unwilling, _a picture of me after the first Quidditch match from Colin Creevy (he never left us alone), a picture of Harry, Ron and I receiving the Special Services to the School Award from Dumbledore last year from Ron and new Quidditch gloves from Harry. The only thing left was the two large packages. Fred and George handed them to us, stating, "They're heavy!"

Quickly, we opened the gifts and I couldn't believe what was sitting on my lap. We both got a Firebolt! The newest, fastest broom in the world! On each handled were our names embroidered in gold. "THOSE ARE A FIREBOLT!" stated Ron in disbelief.

"Who sent them?" asked Amanda.

I looked around for the card. "No idea."

"Who cares? I can't wait to see the look on Malfoy's face when he sees you two riding Firebolts. Can I have a go, Elliot?" asked Ron.

Before I could do anything, Amanda came over and pulled the broom from my hand and Rachel pulled Harry's from his. "Elliot, think about it. Don't you think it's a bit weird that you two get the most expensive brooms in the world with your names engraved on it?" stated Amanda.

"Maybe we're really loved," I smiled.

"Sirius Black could have bought these brooms and jinxed them!" replied Rachel.

"Right, Black is going to buy two perfectly good brooms and send them to us so it could kill us," laughed Harry.

"The day that happens is the day Scabbers reveals some magical secret," I muttered.

"Still, I don't think you should ride them," said Amanda.

"What are you going to do? Tell McGonagall? She won't do anything! She wants us to win the cup!" I laughed.

For the rest of the day, Amanda and Rachel tried to drill the idea that Sirius Black was out for us and that he could have sent the brooms. I found it ridiculous at best. For the rest of the break, I tried to sneak out and get on the broom, but Amanda and Rachel would stop me and berate me on how I wasn't careful enough. However, the worst came when the holidays ended and Hermione caught wind of the two anonymous brooms. "You want to ride those? Black could have jinxed them!" she said.

I was going to find Amanda and Rachel and…I don't know what, but I'll do something to it. But that wasn't the worst. The worst was our first day of classes and we were all sitting at breakfast. McGonagall came strolling over to us and said in her high voice, "Mr. and Miss Potter, I've heard you two received brooms from an anonymous person."

"Yeah, so?" I asked.

"I am going to confiscate them and have them checked over for any possible jinx and or curse. They will be returned to you once the inspection is done."

I couldn't believe what I had heard. Neither could Ron, Harry and the twins. "But, professor…we need those to win the tournament," I stuttered.

"I know, Miss Potter, but it is for your own safety."

Once she walked away, all our eyes turned to Rachel, Amanda and Hermione who glanced away and suddenly found their food more interesting then what was going on. Actions speak for themselves.

TBC…

**Please R&R!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hiya! I have an idea on where this is going and you will LOVE the ending, I'm sure. I specially designed it for a certain someone. ;)**

**Chapter 14**

Once the holidays were over, there was a vast gap between our group. Harry, Ron and I were on one side and Rachel, Amanda and Hermione on the other. All because they couldn't keep their mouths shut about the Firebolts. It didn't help any that Wood, other members of the Gryffindor Team, other Gryffindors and even some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs whether Harry and I received Firebolts for Christmas and some random assortment of questions about the brooms. Rachel, Amanda and Hermione each tried to condone their actions by saying, "We were just making sure you stay safe."

I didn't care what their motives were; I just wanted my Firebolt back. Wood had tried to get McGonagall to give back our Firebolts, but it didn't work. We were stuck waiting. In Transfiguration, instead of listening to McGonagall teaching us how to transform a book into an owl, I used Windgardium Leviosa on my quill and began pretending it was my Firebolt. "Yay! I got a Firebolt! It is so amazing! Hey Elliot, can I ride it? Maybe later, Ron. Oh no, McGonagall is coming! Fly away, broom! Don't' let that cow take you away!"

"Miss Potter!"

I shot my head up, my quill falling back onto the desk. All eyes seem to be on me and McGonagall, who was now standing in front of my desk. I turned to my right where Harry sat. His face was in complete shock. I turned with a guilt-ridden smile to McGonagall. "Morning Professor!" I smiled weakly.

"What were you doing?"

"I was…uh…practicing my Levitating Charm for Charms. Professor Flitwick hinted it would be…on the…final…exam," I lied, my voice faltering at the end.

"Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"I kinda hoped you would. Er…how long were you standing there?"

"Long enough. Ten points from Gryffindor and I will see you Saturday night in detention."

I swore under my breath as McGonagall continued her lesson. That made me even more angry at them. If they hadn't told McGonagall about the Firebolts, I would have been paying attention (not likely) and not have gotten a detention! Oh they had better hope that there were a jinx on those brooms because if there weren't, I was going to kill them myself. After Transfiguration, I suffered through two more classes (Charms and Divination) and then headed towards Defense Against the Dark Arts. Once me and Harry stepped inside, Professor Lupin approached us and said, "You two alright today?"

"Yeah," replied Harry.

"So when do we get those private lessons?" I asked.

"Ah, that's right. Meet me tonight in the Muggle Studies classroom at 8 o'clock."

We nodded and headed to our seats to resume class. After our discussion of useful spells against dark creatures, we headed to the Common Room to relax. I was busy sitting in the fluffy armchair by the fire, trying to focus on McGonagall's homework when I heard something unusual. It was two voices, on male and one female. Turning my head, I saw Amanda storming in with Fred on her tail. "I can't believe you said that!" shouted Amanda.

"Said what? That telling McGonagall about the Firebolts was a stupid idea?"

"Yeah! You know as much as anyone that Black I after those two! He could of easily purchased those brooms and jinxed them!"

"Right, Black is going to risk being caught to buy two FIREBOLTS and sen them to Harry and Elliot to try and kill them. That is very logical."

"I just want to keep them alive."

"Oh, and you think I don't?"

"Clearly you don't! Don't think I didn't overhear you talking to Katie about how if someone hadn't snitched to McGonagall about the Firebolts that we would have won the Quidditch cup."

"Well, we would have!"

"That's my point! You care more about winning the stupid bloody cup than keeping Harry and Elliot alive!"

"I want them alive! Without them, we won't win the cup!"

Summoning a bag of popcorn from the kitchen, I watched with enjoyment. "You don't get it, do you? We were keeping those two alive!"

"I know you were, but come on! I mean…they got a FIREBOLT! We would have had the cup in the sack!"

"Oh come off it, Fred! Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to go to a non-Quidditch ruled area."

And with that, Amanda stormed up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. Fred went to follow when I stated, "You step on that step and you'll have a lot of angry girlst at you."

Fred turned and his face was flushed. "Oh…hey Elliot! How long have you…er…been sitting there?"

I just smiled and replied, "Long enough."

"Oh, well…good night!"

Very quickly,Fred bolted up the opposite staircase to the boys' dormitory. I laughed as Harry came down the stairs. "You ready, Elliot?" he asked.

I nodded and together, we headed out the portrait and towards the Muggle Studies classroom. All the while, I wondered what Lupin had planned for us. Did he actually manage to snatch a Dementor? I hped not. Finally, we arrived in the classroom and we saw Lupin struggling to push a crate into the middle of the room. "Ah, good evening! Please, come in!"

After Harry walked in, I closed the door and came to a halt next to Harry. "Now, the spell I am about to teach you is very advanced magic. It is called the Patronus Charm. Now, the patronus is a postivie form of energy that acts as a shield. In order to conjure a Patronus, you need to think of a really happy, powerful memory and mutter the incantation, _Expecto Patronum_. Do you have one?"

Closing my eyes, I thought of the day when Hagrid came to visit Amanda, Rachel and I and told us we were witches. Opening my eyes, we both nodded and he said, "Harry, why don't you go first?"

I sat off to the side and watched as Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at the crate. Motioning his hand across the crate, the locks unlocked and the lid opened. From inside came a Dementor who had its senses fixed on Harry. I watched as Harry repeated the incantation, but nothing happened. Harry fainted and Lupin stepped in front. The Dementor changed into a moon, making me realize that it was a boggart. With the Ridiculous spell, he shut the boggart back in the crate and helped Harry up. "Harry, are you alright?" he asked.

I quickly came over and saw Harry begin to stir. "W…what happened?" he asked.

"You fainted."

"It's normal. I would have been shocked if you got it on your first try, Harry. This is really advanced magic. Here, eat this. It will help."

Lupin handed Harry a chunk of chocolate. As Harry took a bite, he asked, "Out of curiousity, but what memory did you choose?"

"The first time I rode a broom."

I smiled. That was going to be my second choice if the first memory didn't work. However, Lupin said, "No, not NEARLY powerful enough. Harry, you rest. Let's give Elliot a turn."

Harry moved off to the side as I took his place in front of the crate. "You ready, Elliot?"

With my thoughts trained on my memory, I nodded and watched as the boggart came at me. It was a Dementor, like Harry's, which was a good thing. With my memory in my mind, I shouted, "_EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_

But nothing happened. I tried again and again, but nothing happened. I heard my Dad shout something, then darkness. I woke up immediately with a piece of chocolate thrust in my face. "Here. It's alright. Now, if YOU had produced a patronus, I really would have been shocked. What was your memory?"

"The day Hagrid told me I was a witch."

"Ah, yes. That is happy, but still not powerful enough. No, you need something more powerful than that. It has to be REALLY happy."

I thought as hard as I could. Meeting the Weasleys was a good memory, but that wasn't going to be powerful enough. Watching Malfoy get attacked by Buckbeak sure was a great feeling, but that dragged me back to the hearing. Hagrid was going to tell us the verdict any day now. Hmmm…nothing really incredibly happy appeared in my mind. I was sure Harry was having a hard time too. Then, I thought of something. I wasn't sure it was real, but I told Lupin, "I have one more. It's a bit complicated, but I think it will work."

"Is it powerful?"

I nodded. "Well then, let's give you a go."

The moment I had my wand raised, I felt something weird. I felt like my powers were more powerful than ever before. When Lupin opened the trunk, I focused my thoughts on the memory and shouted, "_Expecto Patronum!"_

A white mist came from the tip of my wand and shielded me against the boggart. The boggart tried to get through, but was forced back into the crate. Quickly, Lupin locked the Dementor in and I fell back against a chair. "Well done, Elliot! Well done!"

He came over, as did Harry. "How are you feeling?" asked Lupin.

"Tired, but that was weird. I felt like…"

"Your powers were magnified?"

I looked at Lupin strangely. "Yeah, how did…?"

"It was because of Harry."

I looked over at Harry, who had an equal look of perplexion on his face. "You two are twins, are you not? Because you are twins, you share each others' powers. It's quite, amazing, actually. Whenever you two are focused on a single spell, you transfer your powers between one another to help them. Were you focused on a memory for you patronus, Harry?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, what was your memory?" Lupin asked Harry.

"Mum and Dad just talking to us," he replied.

"That was my memory," I added.

"Yes, well that explains a lot, certainly. You both were focused on your memory that you both used the power of that memory to help one another. Together, you two are very powerful, indeed. You could have given your father a run for his money."

I smiled. I couldn't wait to tell the others that if anyone messed with Harry and I, they were in big trouble. "Well, I think now is a good time to stop. We can always meet again to fine tune your patronuses. That white mist you saw was a weak one, but with some practice, you'll be able to conjure a corpeal patronus. Now then, you should go before someone catches you out of bed."

We nodded and quickly made our way back to Gryffindor Tower. Once inside, Rachel and Amanda stood with Hermione and Ron, who had a letter clenched in his fingers. All of them seemed sad. "What's the matter?" I asked.

"You remember the trial of Buckbeaks?" asked Amanda.

"Yeah, why?"

"Hagrid lost. They're going to execute Buckbeak."

I couldn't believe my ears. That no good, slimeball Malfoy! I was going to make that turd pay. Poor Hagrid. "We should probably go see him," said Harry.

"Not tonight, it's too late. We'll wait to see him tomorrow," replied Hermione.

We nodded and all split to head to bed. I was about to head upstairs when Harry asked, "Can I borrow the map for tonight? I'm not tired and I want something to do to get me to sleep."

I nodded and quickly ran up the stairs, retrieving the map. Once it was in my hand, I handed it off to Harry and went to bed. The moment I closed my eyes, I envisioned myself punching Malfoy in the face. Oh how I hated Malfoy!

TBC…

**Please R&R! I have some EVIL plans for some of our characters and trust me, you don't want to miss that!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

It was two days until the final Quidditch match against Slytherin and Harry and I had still yet to receive our Firebolts from McGonagall. Wood, the twins and Katie Bell had all tried to make a deal with McGonagall, but with no luck. It looked like we were stuck flying Cleansweeps, which ultimately promised the cup to Slytherin. As we sat at breakfast this morning, I glanced over at Malfoy who was laughing and gloating with the rest of the Slytherins. With a disgusted look, I went back to my food. "I can't believe the Slytherins are going to win the cup AGAIN!" sighed Ron.

"Well, if SOMEONE," my eyes darted to Hermione, Rachel and Amanda, "had kept their mouths shut about a certain broom, we would be winning the cup," I replied.

"I don't get it. I thought it was the skill of the player, not the speed of the broom that won Quidditch matches," stated Amanda.

"Well if the skill of the player can't be used because they are outran by a Nimbus 2001, then it doesn't matter how good they are. They NEED a good broom!" I replied.

"Yeah, but Harry still beat Malfoy to the Snitch last year on the Nimbus 2000."

"Malfoy crashed!"

Before Amanda and I could continue arguing, McGonagall's voice sounded from behind us, "Potter."

Harry and I both turned, not sure which one she meant. Looking at her, we saw she was holding 2 packages…2 broom shaped packages. "After careful examination, we have found nothing wrong and see it fit to return your Firebolts back to you."

With a smile, we took our respectable brooms. "Oh, and one more thing, I expect you to win this match for us now with these brooms because I don't think I can stand being in the Professor's lounge with Snape should Slytherin win again."

We nodded and with that, McGonagall walked away. Laughing, I held my Firebolt in my hand. It was so beautiful. "See, NOTHING was wrong with them!" stated Ron gleefully.

I could see Malfoy looking over in disbelief. During the rest of the day, whenever we passed Malfoy, I bragged loudly about how great the Firebolt was. At practice, I got to fly my broom for the first time and it was great! There was no way we could lose Saturday. What with harry being able to out fly any broom, making it impossible for anyone to catch the Snitch before him, we had the game in the bag. That night, after practice, we all sat around the common room doing our homework. Well, I wasn't. I was busy polishing my Firebolt for the third time. I could hear Hermione sigh in annoyance. Turning to look at her, I asked, "Yes, Hermione?"

"Don't you think you should put your broom away and get to work on Professor Snape's essay?"

"Uh…no?"

Rolling her eyes, she pointed her wand at my broom and shouted, "_Accio Firebolt!"_

My Firebolt flew from my hand and into Hermione's. "Hey! Give it back!"

"Not until you are finished with Snape's essay!"

I sighed and looked at the topic on top of my empty parchment. How in the world was I supposed to write 2 feet of parchment on the uses of Karyote potion? Tapping my quill, I heard Hermione groan and yanked my parchment away from me. Looking up, I saw her scribbling furiously. With an annoyed tone, she threw the parchment at me and huffed, "Follow the outline and you'll be done. Now, I'm going to bed."

After slamming her book shut, Hermione went off to bed, followed by Rachel and Amanda. Once they were gone, Ron bid us goodnight and left. Harry and I continued to work on our essays. I barely noticed the portrait door swing up and close. As we continued our work, I asked, "Have you been thinking about what we heard McGonagall say?"

Harry nodded. As he continued to scribble, I asked, "It doesn't make any sense! I mean, if Sirius Black really WAS our dad's best mate, why would he betray them to Voldemort?"

"Does it matter why?"

"It does to me!"

I could tell Harry didn't want to talk about it, but I did. So many things didn't make sense. Like, if Sirius Black was his best friend, then why betray him? I did ask this question. "Harry, if Black was best friends with our father, then you would think he would rather die than betray them! I would!"

"Not everyone is the kind of friend you are, Elliot."

I was getting really pissy with Harry. I was just about to argue with him when I found it pointless and went back to my work. After my essay was done, including me throwing in some fake facts that made it sound better, I headed to bed and so did Harry. Everyone was already asleep when I walked in. Sitting on my bed, I took out my photo album and started looking at the pictures. Then I found a picture of my mum and dad at their wedding standing next to my father was none other than Sirius Black. It looked like he was Dad's best man. He just simply smiled. I glared at him. How could he have betrayed his best friends to Voldemort? Suddenly, a muffled but loud scream came from the boys' dormitory. Clearly I was the only girl to have heard it, so I ran down the stairs and back up the boys. When I ran into the room, I saw Ron sitting bolt upright in his bed, the curtains around it slashed and Ron's face into a look of utter terror. Rushing to sit next to him on his bed, I asked, "What happened?"

Ron was too shocked to talk. All I could make out was jumbled words. I could have sworn I saw a shadow run out of the room and close the door behind it. Putting my hand on Ron's shoulder, I told him, "Ron, it's okay. I need you to take a deep breath and tell me what happened."

More lamps turned on as Ron's pale white face looked at me and whispered, "Black! Sirius Black! With a knife!"

"What?" Harry asked in shock.

"Here! Just now! Slashed the curtains! Woke me up!"

"Someone go get McGonagall!" I ordered.

"I'll do it," volunteered Neville as he ran out the door. Dean came over and asked, "Are you sure you weren't dreaming, Ron?"

"Look at the curtains! I tell you, he was here!"

Turning to Harry, I said, "Help me get him downstairs."

Together, we helped Ron down the stairs into the Common Room. As we reached the couch, Fred and George came down with a smile. "Are we having a party?" asked Fred hopefully.

Following their arrival was everyone else. Rachel, Amanda and Hermione hurried over and Hermione asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Ron had a nightmare," replied Harry.

Percy came rushing downstairs in his bath robe and ordered, "What is all this ruckus?"

"Perce…Sirius Black!" said Ron faintly, "In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!"

Everyone went silent. Looking at him, I said, "Ron, you were having a nightmare…"

"I'M TELLING THE TRUTH!"

Suddenly, McGonagall came in, followed by Neville. Everyone cleared a path as she walked in. "What is all this nonsense?"

"Ron had a nightmare…" began Percy.

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE!" I nearly jumped as Ron shouted, "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME WITH A KNIFE!"

McGonagall simply stared at Ron. "Don't be ridiculous, Weasley. How could he possibly have gained entrance thought the portrait hole?"

"Ask him," said Ron, pointing a shaking finger at Sir Cadogen.

McGonagall went outside and looked at the portrait. "Sir Cadogen, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor Tower?"

"Certainly, good lady!"

Everyone was in a stunned silence. "You…you did? But…but the password!"

"He had 'em! Had the whole week's, my lady. Red them off a little piece of parchment."

McGonagall was white as chalk. "Which person," she began, her voice shaking with rage, "which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"

Poor Neville raised hand slowly into the air. I rolled my eyes and rested my head in my hand. This wasn't going to end well. After McGonagall scolded Neville, she went to warn the other teachers. After she left, everyone stayed awake in the Common room. No one dared to go back to sleep after what just happened. I didn't blame them. Together, harry, Ron, Hermione, Rachel, Amanda and I sat together. "How did he manage to get into the castle?" asked Amanda.

"I don't know, but this is the third time Black's gotten past the Dementors. This is not good, guys," replied Rachel.

Harry and I stayed silent. We didn't want to talk about Black. Finally, McGonagall came in to tell us Black was nowhere to be found and that we should get some rest. But I didn't sleep. Neither did Harry or Ron. During Charms, the three of us were falling asleep. Everywhere we could see tighter security. The only good thing was that Sir Cadogen had been fired and the Fat Lady was back. Since the incident, Ron had become a celebrity. I could tell Ron was enjoying it. Although reliving it still scared him, I constantly found Ron retelling the encounter. After a group of girls ran once Ron was done telling the story, I said, "What doesn't make sense is that he ran! Why did he run? Why not finish you off and everyone else? Or why pass us in the Common Room? I think Harry and I were down there when Black entered, and we were alone."

It didn't make sense. None of us figured an answer. Poor Neville, though. He was banned from Hogsmeade, given detention, forbidden to know the password and received a Howler from his grandmother. In Divination, we were studying crystal balls and low and behold, we saw nothing. While we were staring into the fog, we were almost falling asleep. A crude voice from in front snapped at us, "Wake up, you three!"

I jumped and saw the empty table in front was suddenly occupied by Hermione and Amanda. "Where's Rachel?" I asked.

"She dropped the class. Said it was a waste of time and was tired of Trelawney predicting your deaths," replied Amanda.

I didn't blame her. I felt the same way. Then, Trelawney stopped in front of them and asked what they saw. Amanda then replied she saw the Grim. What happened next happened faster than I expected. Trelawney must have said something offensive because before I knew it; Amanda had stormed out, followed by Hermione. After class, we found them and they announced they were no longer coming to Divination. I didn't blame them. Quidditch practice nearly killed us. Wood worked us to death. It wasn't until George told Wood that if we practiced anymore, we would be dead tired and unable to play the next day that Wood finished practice. Once we reached the Common Room, Harry took the map. I was just about to head to bed when Ron came down the stairs in anger. "HE'S GONE!"

"Who's gone?" I asked.

"SCABBERS! CROOKSHANKS ATE HIM!"

"Rubbish!" replied Hermione.

However, that's not what Ron wanted to hear and he stormed to bed. After calling him a series of names, such as a twit and irresponsible pet owner, Ron came down and we had a giant row about how idiotic he was for just jumping to conclusions and how Scabbers could be anywhere and how I was being stupid for thinking Crookshanks was innocent. Finally, I used the Leg Lock Curse on him and went to bed. If I was going to see Malfoy's face when we beat him, I wanted to be fully awake and that night, I had pleasant dreams of Malfoy losing and me hexing Ron several times over.

TBC…

**Please R&R!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

The moment I came walking down the stairs, I saw everyone but Harry was still asleep. Probably because no one had received any sleep the night before. Soon, everyone would be awake and heading down to the stadium for the final match of the season. Gryffindor versus Slytherin. This would be the match that decided who won the Quidditch House Cup. I figured Harry was suffering from pre-match nerves, so I walked up to him and greeted brightly, "Hiya Harry."

My attempt didn't yield a response, so I lightly pushed on his shoulder and said, "Harry."

Harry jumped in surprise at my sudden appearance. Sitting next to him, I asked, "You ready for the match?"

He simply nodded. My twin sense kicked in and informed me something was bugging him, so I asked, "What's on your mind?"

There was a slight pause and then Harry replied, "I saw Peter Pettigrew on the map."

I thought he was joking at first, but the look on his face said otherwise. "That's impossible! Peter's dead!"

"I know. So, I went to investigate and there was nothing there."

"Nothing?"

Harry nodded. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. The map must have lied."

"That map doesn't lie. Is he here now?"

"I don't know."

"Well, check it now!"

"I can't."

"Well, why not?"

Uh-oh. Harry turned away, which meant something happened. "What happened, Harry?"

After taking a deep breath, he replied, "Snape and Lupin caught me and Lupin took the map. He even knew what it was and scolded me for not turning it in because if Black found it, he could have found us."

"So there's no way to get it back, then?"

Harry shook his head. "Damn, this bites royal Hippogriff. I didn't get to use it to its full potential."

I was a tad bit disappointed. That map was the most brilliant invention. But how could it show someone dead roaming the halls of Hogwarts? Just then, Rachel came down the steps, reminding me that we needed to get ready for the match. After giving Harry the look that said we'll-tell-them-late, I ran upstairs and changed into my sweater and Quidditch pants. My entire uniform was downstairs in the locker room. Before I knew it, the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team was sitting before Wood, who was reminding us that in order to win the cup, Harry had to wait to catch the Snitch until we were more than fifty points ahead. That meant extra work on the Keeper and the Chasers part. Once Wood had drilled the prospect into our heads, we flew out onto the pitch and heard the roar of the Gryffindors and the hiss of the Slytherins. The match would be starting soon. Rachel, Katie and I agreed that if they were to pass the Quaffle a long distance, then it would be to me. After all, my Firebolt could reach it faster than everyone else's. Soon, we all took our positions. Wood headed to the goal posts. Fred and George took the outer rim of our half with Harry flying above. In the middle was Katie and on either side of her were Rachel and me. Madam Hooch released the Bludgers and the Snitch. Once they were in the air, she held the Quaffle. After giving her speech, she threw the Quaffle in the air and I raced forward, catching it before the others. And so, the match began.

The Quaffle bounced between me, Rachel and Katie until Katie threw it long. I leant forward, sped up and caught it just in time to throw it through the middle ring. Ten to zero. The Gryffindors roared in glory as the Slytherins took possession. Fred and George worked hard to aim the Bludgers at the Slytherin Chasers, normally hitting their mark, but the Chasers passed the Quaffle too often to catch the person in possession. I flew at Flint, but as I was about to push him off, of course, he kicked my broom and sent me flying in a different direction. I quickly got back in control just in time to see Wood block the Quaffle and pass it off to Rachel. Rachel looked at me and nodded, telling me that it was time to try out a move we've been practicing. Passing the Quaffle off to me, I flew in front with her behind. As we flew to the post, I went to throw, but instead of aiming at the posts, I tossed it up and dived. Looking up, I saw Rachel catch and throw it through the hoop. Another ten points! Just four more goals and Harry was free to catch the Snitch.

After two more goals by Katie and me, we were up forty to zero when they scored. We worked hard to get back our lead and soon enough, I scored two more and Rachel one and now, harry was free. As Fred, George, Katie, Rachel, Wood and I did our best to prevent the Slytherins from scoring, I saw Harry and Malfoy diving. Before I could see who caught it, a Bludger hit me in the side of the head and everything went black.

---oOo---

Once I woke up, I saw I was in the Hospital Wing with both Fred and George sitting by my bedside. Once they came into clear view, I shot up and asked, "Who won?"

"What? No hi?" smiled Fred.

"Oh come on, TELL ME!"

"All in good time. First, we owe an explanation as to why you are here," stated George, looking a little apologetic.

"Yeah, you see, Mr. Intelligent here was aiming to hit Malfoy with a Bludger, but aimed it too high and caught you instead," explained Fred.

I looked over at George, who replied sheepishly, "Sorry mate."

"Now then, we are going to make it up to you by busting you out of here. Now, hurry up before Madam Pomfrey catches us."

Luckily I was still in my Quidditch robes, so together, we snuck out of the Hospital Wing. As I followed them, I kept pestering them about the outcome of the match. Their answers were always the same. "You'll see." I was getting a bit impatient with them, but I knew they did everything for a reason. Finally, we arrived outside the portrait of Sir Cadogen to get into the Common Room. Fred and George said the password in unison, causing the portrait to swing open and allow us passage. The moment I walked in, I was hoisted onto Seamus and Dean's shoulders and carried the rest of the way in. The Common Room was in an uproar and Fred announced as he and George led the way in, "We bring you the one!"

"The only!" continued George.

"ELLIOT POTTER!" they finished in unison. The Gryffindors shouted in triumph as Seamus and Dean let me down. Rachel and Harry pushed their way forward with Ron, Hermione and Amanda in tow. With a smile, Rachel shouted, "WE WON!"

"WE DID!?" I screamed back.

"Yeah, didn't Fred and George tell you that?" asked Amanda.

I shook my head. I saw Amanda shoot an angry glare at Fred, who disappeared in an instant. We celebrated the victory for the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening. Amanda and Fred had another row after Fred jokingly made fun of me when George knocked me off my broom. I knew it was all in good fun and wasn't harmed by it, but Amanda said I was lucky to still be here and finally, they said their "Piss offs" and Fred and George went to bed. Once the twins were gone, I asked Amanda, "What is with you and Fred all of a sudden?"

"It doesn't concern you."

I was about to disagree when Ron asked, "So, can we take a look at the Marauders Map and watch to see what other people are doing?"

Both Harry's and my faces fell. It was now or never. It was that moment when harry explained Peter's appearance on the map and losing the map to Lupin. "Well, the map must have been lying, then," said Amanda.

"That map doesn't lie! It just can't!" I argued.

"And how do you know that?" asked Rachel.

"Fred and George used it for years and NEVER got caught! It just can't lie!"

"Then how do you explain his appearance on the map?" asked Ron.

I bit my lip. I had an idea, but I was sure they would SOMEHOW prove me wrong. "Well, out with it," urged Amanda.

"Maybe…he faked his death and turned himself into an animal or something?"

Ron, Rachel and Harry burst into laughter. "WHAT!"

"There's a better chance Sirius Black is innocent than there is Peter Pettigrew is alive!" laughed Rachel.

"Well, maybe Elliot's right," replied Hermione.

I did a double take, as did everyone else. "Did you just agree with Elliot?" asked Amanda.

"I'm just saying it is possible. Plus, it's easy enough to check. All Animagi have to register their name and animal."

"Really?" I asked.

"Oh HONESTLY! Weren't you paying attention during that class?"

"Well, I heard about transforming into an animal and my mind wondered," I replied.

Hermione groaned as she stood up. "Well, I'll check the registry tomorrow. Goodnight."

After she went off to bed, we went on to talk about the match until Percy ordered us to bed. Reluctantly, we obeyed and headed to our respected dorms. That night, all I could think about Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black.

TBC…

**Please R&R!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

I thought this day would be a good day, but it started horribly. By the time I woke up, Hermione was already gone. Went to see the registry, no doubt. I met up with Harry and Ron and together, we headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. The moment we arrived, Rachel ran towards us and whispered, "They're going to execute Buckbeak tonight at sunset."

"What?" I glanced over Rachel's shoulder and spotted Hagrid, whose eyes were red from crying. I then averted my eyes at Malfoy at the Slytherin table, who was laughing. Anger overtook me and I pulled out my wand, ready to fire a curse at him, but Rachel grabbed my arm and held it down. "No, Elliot, you can't!"

"Says who?"

"She's got a point," stated Ron.

"Do you want to give Snape a reason to give you a detention?"

"It would be worth it."

That's when I noticed Amanda wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Where's Amanda?" I asked.

"With Fred. They're trying to…"

But Rachel was cut off when Amanda came storming through the double doors, her face contorted in rage. Before we could greet her, she pushed through and sat at the table. "Guess it didn't go well," I muttered as we sat around her.

The moment we all sat down, Hermione came in and joined us. As she sat down, I asked, "Let me guess, you were in the library?"

"As a matter of fact, I was. I was checking the registry and, no surprise, Peter Pettigrew wasn't on the list."

I sighed. Still, something didn't feel right. But for the rest of the day, the topic of Sirius Black was never brought up. All of our thoughts were focused on Hagrid. We all agreed we were going to go down to his hut before the execution to make him feel better. It was mostly quiet, apart from the occasional shouting matches between Fred and Amanda. Finally, the time came to head down and see Hagrid. As we walked through the clock tower courtyard, we saw the executioner who I overheard from Malfoy calling him Macnair, sharpening his axe. We all shot him a dirty look as we crossed the bridge. The moment the bridge dropped us into the stone circle, we all stopped as we recognized the blonde ferret and his two goons who were staring in Hagrid's general direction. Before I could say anything, Hermione stormed forward. We chased after her as Malfoy turned around and laughed, "Ah, come to see the show!"

Hermione pulled out her wand and shouted, "You foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!"

As she spat these words, she cornered Malfoy against one of the stones and pointed her want at his throat. Ron then shouted, "Hermione no! He's not worth it."

"I beg to differ," I muttered, earning me an elbow in the gut by Rachel. Just as I thought Hermione was going to disregard Ron, Hermione lowered her wand and turned. Malfoy began to laugh, but Hermione spun around and punched Malfoy square in the face. We all laughed as Malfoy held his nose and ran off like a little baby. The moment Malfoy was gone, Hermione said with a smile, "That felt good."

"Not good, brilliant!" replied Ron as we ran towards Hagrid's hut. The moment we arrived, Hagrid let us in and offered us tea. I stared out the window at Buckbeak, who was chained to a post in the pumpkin patch. I felt bad for Buckbeak. He was the victim of Malfoy's malice. I turned back to the group inside, unable to take in the pitiful feeling I felt from staring at Buckbeak. I was going to make Malfoy pay. Hagrid walked to the window that I was standing at and sighed, "Look at 'em. Loves the smell o' the trees when the wind blows..."

Hagrid stopped and I didn't blame him. Harry then asked, "Why don't you set him free?"

"They'd know I did it. And tha' would only get Dumbledore in trouble. Gonna come down, yeh know. Says he wants ter be with me when it... when it happens. Great man, Dumbledore."

How true were those words. After a bit of silence, Hermione stood up and stated, "We'll stay with you too, Hagrid."

"Yeh will not! Think I wan' yeh seein' a thing like this! No. Yeh'll drink yer tea an' be off. Before yeh do, Ron, I got a present for yeh."

We all watched as Hagrid opened a tin box and pulled out the mangy rat, Scabbers. "Scabbers! You're alive!" smiled Ron as he took the rat from Hagrid.

"Ye need to keep a closer eye on yer pets, Ron."

"Guess you owe someone an apology," I smiled.

Ron turned to Hermione and said, "Right. Next time I see Crookshanks, I'll let him know."

Hermione looked hurt, causing me to shout, "I meant Hermione, you daft, dimwitted, idiotic…"

"Alright, enough!" shouted Hagrid, causing us to turn and stare at him. "Before ye leave, I want you and Ron to hug, Elliot."

"WHAT?!" asked both me and Ron.

"You two 'ave been at each other's throats all year. Now, give each other a hug."

We turned and looked at each other with a look of disgust. Slowly, we stepped forward and gave each other the most awkward hug Hogwarts has ever seen. As we broke apart, Hagrid muttered, "Crikey, tha's jus' abou' the most pathetic hug I e'er seen. But yeh did it, an' tha's wha' matters. There's jus' one other thing..."

"I'm not kissing Fang if that's what you're thinking..." shouted Ron.

"No, this is directed at Amanda. Ye need to give Fred a break…" But Hagrid was cut off when a glass jar on the shelf shattered. We all stared out the window as Hermione picked up a stone. Just then, another rock came flying in, hitting Harry on the back of the head. Harry turned, rubbing his head, but stopped and muttered, "Hagrid..."

We all looked outside and saw Dumbledore, Fudge and Macnair approaching the hut. Hagrid's face flushed as he ordered, "Yeh got to go! It's almost dark. Anyone sees yeh outside the castle it'll be trouble! Big trouble! 'Specially you two, Harry and Elliot…"

Suddenly, three loud knocks hit the door. Hagrid stiffened as we slowly went out the back. Before we left, we told Hagrid it was going to be alright, then slipped out the back. Before completely getting outside, we checked to see if the coast was clear, then slipped behind the pumpkins. As we waited for everyone to be clear of the open window, a snap resounded behind us. As we turned, I thought I saw a wisp of brown hair. "What is it?" asked Harry.

Before I could say anything, Hermione answered, "I just thought I saw...never mind."

Finally, the coast was clear and we raced up the hill. When we reached the stone circle, we watched in horror as Macnair brought down his axe in the area where Buckbeak was. However, the trees were blocking our view, but when the crows flew away, we knew Buckbeak was gone. When it was over, I turned into Ron and buried my face, holding back tears. However, it was broken when I saw Scabbers bit Ron's finger, causing Ron to drop him and run off. Ron looked at us and said, "He bit me! Scabbers! Come back!"

At that moment, Ron ran after Scabbers. "Ron! No!" shouted Hermione as we chased after him. We chased him for a while until we stopped and watched as Ron jumped on the ground and grabbed Scabbers in his hand. It was just then that I noticed what tree Ron had caught Scabbers under; the Whomping Willow. "Uh…guys…you do know what tree that is, right?" I mumbled.

Harry recognized it and muttered, "That's not good. Ron! Run!"

When Ron looked up at us, a look of fear spread across his face as he pointed and shouted, "Guys, run! It's the grim!"

We spun around and saw a black dog bare his teeth and run through us and at Ron. In a matter of seconds, the dog brought his fangs down into Ron's leg and dragged him towards the Whomping Willow. We chased after him and Harry dove, grabbing Ron around the arm. The dog was strong, pulling both Harry and Ron with him. As the dog went into a small tunnel at the base of the tree, he attempted to take Ron with him, but I grabbed onto Harry's foot, causing more weight for the dog to pull. The dog, however, was pulling hard on Ron. Ron looked at us and Harry said, "Hold on, Ron!"

I looked over Harry's shoulder and saw a look in Ron's eyes. Harry saw it too and sighed, "No, Ron..."

One by one, Ron released his fingers from Harry's grip. I knew he was getting ready to sacrifice himself. "Ron, if you let go, I'll…"

But I never got to finish my statement because Ron let go, allowing the dog to pull him in. Te sound of Ron's pleas for help echoed through the passage as a branch of the tree swung and sent us fling back onto the ground. It was then that I remembered why I hated that bloody tree. Staring at the tree, we heard Ron's pleas for help. There was only one way to save him. I looked at Harry, Hermione, Rachel and Amanda and we all nodded. Together, we ran at the tree, dodging the branches that it was sending at us. As a branch narrowly missed Hermione, it caught me in the stomach. I held onto it as it flew up in the air. I knew holding on to it was probably a bad idea, but better than falling onto the ground. The branch sent me through its other branches, scratching me as I went. I looked down and saw Amanda as she was sent down onto the ground and almost crushed by one of its hammering branches. Rachel was successfully dodging most of the branches. Harry was scrambling for his glasses and Hermione was in the same boat I was. The branch I was holding onto sent me flying towards Rachel and it gave me a thought. Before Rachel could react, I grabbed Rachel by the color of her shirt and held on until I saw the tunnel. "Ready?" I shouted at her.

Rachel nodded and I let go, sending her flying into the tunnel. Amanda managed to dodge the limbs and crawled in after her. Hermione saw what I was doing and grabbed Harry, following my example. Once she sent Harry in, I waited until I had a good shot at the tunnel and let go. I landed mere feet from it and before the tree could attack me, I scrambled in. As I rolled in on top of Harry, I saw Amanda kneeling next to Rachel, who was holding her ankle in pain. Before I could get up, Hermione fell on top of me, causing me to fall back into Harry. "Oh sorry."

Quickly, we scrambled off one another and I rushed to Rachel. "What's the matter?" I asked.

"I landed on my ankle wrong. I think I broke it."

Sighing, I hoisted Rachel's arms over my shoulders and Amanda did the same. Once we got Rachel onto her feet, Harry muttered, "Lumos," lighting the long, dark passage.

Harry led the way and Amanda and I struggled to help Rachel through with Hermione following. "Where do you suppose this goes?" asked Hermione.

"I have a hunch. I just hope I'm wrong..." muttered Harry

We made our way through the passageway, ducking roots that dangled overhead. Suddenly, the passage stopped and headed upwards. Harry climbed up first and then helped Rachel up. I followed, then Amanda and finally Hermione. Once we were in, we noticed the place was old and battered. Blood stained the floor towards the stair. Amanda then stated, "We're in the Shrieking Shack, aren't we?"

None of us answered as we followed the blood trail up the stairs. It was difficult helping Rachel up the stairs, even if Amanda was helping. It was slow going, but we finally reached the top. The blood then went off to the right into a room and we walked in. It was then that we saw Ron sitting on a bed, his leg bleeding profusely and clinging onto Scabbers. I sighed as Amanda and I helped Rachel onto the bed next to Ron. Hermione and Harry rushed in, Harry extinguishing his wand as Hermione smiled, "Ron! You're okay."

"Where's the dog?" I asked.

"It's a trap. He's the dog. He's an Animagus."

We all looked down at the paw prints that turned into human feet. We looked up slowly at the man standing in the shadows. His hair was filthy and matted down, hanging to his shoulders. His skin was white and pale and he looked like a corpse. His eyes were dark and cold. It was then that we recognized that we were now in the presence of none other than Sirius Black.

TBC…

**Ok guys, please review! I won't update if I don't get at least one review. That goes for all my stories!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

My heart began to race as I stared at the cold dark man that was Sirius Black. All the anger and resentment I had for him began to flare up. So maybe I did blame him for my parents' murder. Suddenly, Hermione and Amanda pushed themselves in front of us and Hermione stated, "If you're going to kill them, you're going to have to go through us."

"No, only one will die tonight," Black replied in a cold voice. I was confused. He was only going to kill one of us? He had to have known there were two remaining Potters. After all, he was my parents' friend. Maybe he had evil plans for the other…ok, never thinking that thought again. Apparently, Harry didn't care because he pushed Hermione out of the way and shouted, "And it's going to be you!"

Harry tackled Sirius and held his wand so it was pointing at his forehead. Black laughed and smiled, "You're not going to kill me, Harry."

Just when I thought he would, the door opened and Lupin came running in, his wand pointed at Harry and shouting, _"Expelliarmus!"_

Harry's wand jumped from his hand and Lupin motioned for Harry to get off. Harry did so as Lupin stared down at Black and said, "Looking a bit ragged, aren't we, Sirius? Finally the skin reflects the madness within."

"You would know everything about the madness within, wouldn't you, Remus?"

And then, something happened I did not expect. Lupin smiled and helped Black to his feet, giving him a brotherly hug. I couldn't believe my eyes, especially after Black said to him, "I've finally found him, Remus. Let's kill him!"

Hermione then cried, "No! I trusted you! And after all this time, you've been his friend."

Lupin and Black stared at us. Then, Hermione pointed her finger at Lupin and turned to us, saying, "He's a werewolf. That's why he's been missing classes!"

Now I was really confused. I thought it was some joke until Lupin asked, "How long have you known?"

"Since Professor Snape set the essay."

"Well, you certainly are the brightest witch of your age, Hermione."

"Wait, you're a werewolf?" I asked.

Lupin simply nodded. Then, Black shouted, "Yes, she glows like the sun and he howls at the moon. Enough talk! Let's just kill 'em."

At least, I think that's what he said. I couldn't tell if he said "him or them." Lupin turned to Sirius and said, "Now wait, Sirius…"

"I'VE DONE MY WAITING! TWELVE YEARS OF IT! IN AZKABAN! You wouldn't last a week, Remus."

We all stared at Black as Lupin nodded and handed Black his wand. "Now wait one moment, Harry and Elliot deserve to know why."

"We know why! YOU BETRAYED OUR PARENTS!" replied Harry.

"And my mother!" shouted Rachel. I completely forgot about her mother and the fact Lupin was her godfather. "I would've never betrayed James and Lily, or Andromeda!" shouted Sirius.

"Someone did betray your parents, but it wasn't him. It was someone, who until quite recently, I believed to be dead," replied Lupin.

"If it wasn't him, then who was it?" I asked.

"Peter Pettigrew! And he's in this room right now! Come out, Peter! Come out to play!" shouted Black like a raving mad man. Just then, the door opened again and Snape came running in, his wand pointed at Sirius and shouting, _"Expelliarmus!"_

Black and Lupin turned and stared at Snape, who had his wand held threatenly at Black. "Ah, vengeance is sweet. How I had hoped I'd be the one to catch you," Snape sneered at Black.

"Severus," stated Lupin, causing Snape to now point his wand at Lupin. "I told Dumbledore you were helping an old friend into the castle, and here's the proof."

"Brilliant! And, as usual, dead wrong. Now give us our wands back. Remus and I have unfinished business to tend to," replied Sirius, causing Snape to return his wand pointing to Sirius.

We all just stared in wonder at the events in front of us. Sirius took a step towards Snape as Snape thrust his wand closer to Black's throat. "Give me a reason, I beg you."

"Don't be a fool, Severus!" stated Lupin.

"He can't help it. It's habit by now." I stifled at laugh at this. I should have been terrified, but Sirius was right in that aspect. Apparently Lupin didn't find it as amusing because he ordered, "Quiet, Sirius!"

"Stay out of this, Remus."

Lupin turned frustrated and rubbed his forehead with his hand as Snape chided, "Listen to you two, quarrelling like an old married couple. The creature and the criminal."

"Why don't you go play with your chemistry set!"

Apparently Snape took that as an insult as he thrust his wand closer to Black's throat. "Witty as ever, I see. Tell me, will you be so irreverent when I turn you over to the Dementors?"

It was hard to see Sirius' face as Snape said this, but I could tell he became fearful, especially as Snape went on to say, "Do I detect a flicker of fear? One can only imagine what it must be like to endure the Dementor's Kiss. It's said to be unbearable to witness, but I'll do my best."

Something told me I couldn't let Snape do this, so slowly, I slipped my wand out of my pocket and pointed it at Sirius. Sirius, Snape and Lupin stared at me as I quickly turned it on Snape and shouted, _"Expelliarmus!"_

The spell sent Snape flying back into the four post bed that lay on the other side of the room. It did feel good to hit Snape with a spell, I might add. However, the others were horrified as Amanda stated, "Elliot, you attacked a teacher!"

But I paid them no heed as I pointed my wand back at Sirius and said, "Tell us more about Peter Pettigrew."

"He was our friend. He went to school with us. We thought he was our friend, but he betrayed your parents to Voldemort and is in this room. You can ask him yourself," replied Lupin.

"No, Pettigrew's dead. He killed them!" replied Harry, pointing at Sirius.

"I thought so too, until you mentioned seeing Pettigrew on the map," stated Lupin.

"The map was lying then," stated Rachel.

"THE MAP NEVER LIES!" shouted Sirius.

"How would you know?" I asked.

"Because we created it! Me, Remus, Pettigrew and your father," Sirius replied.

Now I was confused. "Then...then that means you're the Marauders!" I sighed with awe.

Lupin nodded. "When they found out about my…condition, they wanted to help. They learned to become Animagi and went with me through the passage in the Whomping Willow to here where they kept me from hurting anybody. We created the map so that way, we would know if anyone was following us and the coast was clear. Your father and Sirius became a stag and a dog to keep me off and Pettigrew a rat to hit a not on the tree to keep it from killing us," explained Lupin.

I couldn't believe it. My father was one of the Marauders! "But that still doesn't explain how Peter is alive," stated Amanda.

"After he told Voldemort where your parents were, he faked his own death and turned into a rat. Pettigrew's alive, and he's right there!" replied Sirius, pointing to Ron.

I was confused, as was Ron. "M…me? You're mental!" replied Ron.

"Not you…you're rat!" said Sirius.

"Scabbers? Scabbers has been in my family for…" began Ron.

"Twelve years! A curiously long life for a common garden rat. He's missing a toe, isn't he?"

"So?" asked Ron.

"All they could find of Pettigrew was his…" began Harry.

"His finger! Dirty coward cut if off so everyone would think he was dead. Then, he transformed into a rat!"

So I was right! He was an Animagus! "That can't be possible! If you are Animagi, you had to have registered and your names weren't in the registry!" stated Hermione.

"Again, clever, but you also had to have been of age to become an Animagus. We never registered because we were well under seventeen."

"If you're telling the truth, then prove it," I said.

Sirius turned to Ron and grabbed Scabbers from Ron's hand. "What are you going to do with him?" asked Ron, instinctively keeping Black from taking him.

"Give it to him, Ron," ordered Harry.

Ron let go as Lupin picked up his and Snape's wand, handing one over to Sirius. After Sirius set Scabbers on the piano without letting go, he turned to Lupin and said, "Together."

Lupin nodded and, quickly, Sirius let go. Scabbers tried to run as Sirius and Lupin sent spells at the rat. Before the rat could get away, Sirius pointed his wand and suddenly, Scabbers turned into a fat man with very little hair and a disgusting face that no mother could ever love. So they were telling the truth. I glanced at Ron, who looked terrified at the man. Sirius and Lupin grabbed the man and forced him to face them. The moment he saw them, he smiled, "Sirius? Remus! My old friends!"

But just then, he tried to run for it. We stood rooted as Lupin and Sirius held him off. Then his eyes fell on us. He twitched ad said, "Harry! Elliot! Look at the two of you! You look just like your parents. We were the best f friends!"

Then he saw Rachel and something else twitched. "Rachel…my, you look so much like your mother…"

Before he could go on, Sirius ordered, "Shut up! How dare you speak of Lily and James in front of them!"

"How dare you bring up Andromeda in front of Rachel!" continued Lupin.

Sirius and Lupin went to grab Pettigrew, but he ducked and stood behind the piano. Lupin and Sirius kept their wands trained on him as Lupin said, "You betrayed Lily, James and Andromeda to Voldemort, didn't you!"

"I didn't mean to! The Dark Lord, you have no idea the weapons he possesses! Ask yourself what you would have done, Sirius. What would you have done?"

"I would have died! I would have died rather than betray my friends!" shouted Sirius as Peter scrambled under the piano and darted for the door.

Before he could go anywhere, Harry stood in front of the door. Peter ran up to him and said, "Your father wouldn't have wanted me dead. Have mercy!"

But Sirius and Lupin dragged him off Harry and all I could do was watch as Sirius said, "You should have realized, Peter, if Voldemort didn't kill you…"

"We would. Together!" finished Lupin.

I stood, waiting for them to do it, but Harry then shouted, "NO!"

We all turned and stared at Harry. I was shocked. "Harry, this man…" began Lupin.

"I know what he is, but we'll take him to the castle," said Harry matter of factly.

Peter smiled and sighed, "Bless you, boy! Bless you…"

Before Peter could touch his feet, Harry said, "Get off! I said we'd take you to the castle. After that, the Dementors can have you."

I then realized what Harry was doing and as he looked at me, I smiled and nodded at him back. Peter whimpered as Lupin grabbed Peter by the collar and hoisted him to his feet, pointing his wand directly at him. Harry and Sirius went to help Ron as Amanda and Hermione went to help Rachel. I was left to lead the way. As we walked through the tunnel, me in the lead followed by Harry, Sirius and Ron, then Amanda, Rachel and Hermione and finally, Lupin and Peter, I heard Sirius say to Ron, "Sorry about the bite. I reckon it twinges a bit."

"A bit? A bit! You nearly tore my leg off!"

I smiled as Sirius replied, "I normally have a sweeter demeanor as a dog. On more occasions than one, James suggested I make the change more permanent. The tail I could live with, but the fleas…they're murder."

I laughed as we emerged and Harry and Sirius set Ron down by the tree. As Hermione and Amanda set Rachel down, Lupin emerged with Peter and quickly, Peter ran towards Ron and said, "Ron! Haven't I been a good friend? A good pet? You won't let them kill me, will you? I was your rat!"

That wasn't going to be a very good argument as Lupin pushed him away. I then noticed Sirius walking away, staring at the castle. Hermione motioned for us to go talk to him, and we did. As we approached, Sirius sighed, "Beautiful, isn't it? I'll never forget the first time I walked through those doors. Now, I'll be able to do it again as a free man."

He then turned to Harry and smiled, "That was a noble thing you did back there. He doesn't deserve it."

"I don't reckon our father would want his two best mates to become killers for a worthless piece of vermin like Pettigrew. Besides, dead, the truth dies with him. Alive, you're free."

"And Rachel won't have to visit her godfather in Azkaban," I replied.

Sirius smiled and said, "I don't know if you both know, Harry and Elliot, but when you were both born, James and Lily made me your godfather."

"Oh trust me, we know," I smiled.

"And, well, I'll understand if you choose to stay with your aunt and uncle, Harry, and you with the Weasleys, Elliot, but, so you know, you could…"

"Come live with you? When?!" asked Harry enthusiastically.

I didn't blame him. The Dursleys were horrible. Sirius simply replied, "Soon as my name is cleared."

Just then, Hermione shouted, "HARRY!"

All three of us turned as Hermione pointed to the sky where the full moon came out from behind the clouds. That wasn't good. Lupin stared at the moon and suddenly began to tremble. Sirius ran to him and asked, "Remus, old friend, did you take your potion tonight?"

Lupin continued to twitch as Harry and I ran to Rachel and Ron, getting ready to hoist them up and take them to safety. Sirius turned to us and shouted, "Run, all of you! NOW!"

But we didn't. Sirius held his hand over Lupin's heart and said, "You know the man you truly are, Remus. Flesh is only flesh! This heart is where you truly live. This heart, here!"

Remus dropped his wand and Pettigrew retrieved it, pointing to his head. I pointed my wand and shouted, _"Expelliarmus!"_

The wand flew from his hand, but it was too late. Pettigrew transformed into a rat and ran away. However, Lupin slowly began to transform into a werewolf, and, in the final bit, he threw Sirius down the hill and all that was left was a tall, lanky werewolf whimpering. I went to help Rachel to run, but Hermione said, "Wait!"

"Hermione, we have no time!" I shouted, but Hermione approached the werewolf and asked, "Professor?"

The werewolf looked at us and then let out a howl before advancing. We slowly backed away as Snape came from the tunnel and glared at me, grabbing my arm and sneering, "There you are, Potter!"

The werewolf growled and Snape turned around, quickly making him forget his anger at me and shielding us from him. Before the werewolf could do anything, the black dog ran and jumped at the wolf, biting his back. The werewolf turned and attacked Sirius, fighting him until they chased each other. Snape went to guide us away, but Harry and I broke through and chased after them. When we reached the top of the hill, we saw Sirius thrown against a tree. Harry picked up a rock and threw it at Lupin, hitting him on the head and causing him to run towards us. Before we could run, another werewolf howl echoed and Lupin chased after it. We were saved. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the dog limp and tumble, then stand up as Sirius. Quickly, we raced after him and found him lying unconscious at the lake. We skidded and kneeled next to him, me whispering, "Sirius!"

Sirius slowly opened his eyes, but when he opened them, he yelled. Harry and I looked up and fear overwhelmed us. Hundreds of Dementors hovered above us, coming down hard. Harry and I drew out our wands and shouted, _"Expecto Patronum!"_

Our shield did very little against them and before we could do anything, a Dementor approached us and began to suck out our happiness. We collapse as Dementor after Dementor approached Harry, Sirius and me, taking a little bit each time. Just then, after a Dementor attacked Sirius, a glowing orb escaped from Sirius' lips. It was his soul. My sight was hazing, but before another Dementor approached, two glowing lights caught my eye. Harry and I turned and saw a stag and wolf run across the pond and swept the Dementors away in waves of light. Behind the light, I could see a man with jet black hair and a woman with red hair. It couldn't have been…could it? As soon as the two animals disappeared, I tried to see who they were, but I became too weak and slowly drifted off into darkness.

TBC…

**Almost done! Please REVIEW!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

When I woke up, I found myself in the Hospital Wing with Harry telling Hermione something. In fact he sounded like he was yelling. When I sat up, Harry immediately asked me, "Did you see them?"

"See who?"

"The people who saved us. It was our parents!"

"Harry, it couldn't have been your parents," replied Hermione.

"They were," I spoke up. Harry and Hermione stared at me as I continued. "It was definitely them. I mean, who else could have conjured those Patronuses?"

"But Elliot," stated Amanda who was sitting in the chair beside me, "Your parents are dead. There's no way they could have been there."

"But I saw them! We both did!"

"You must have hit your head a little too hard," suggested Amanda.

How was it that no one ever believed us? I know what we saw and it had to have been our parents! What tow people have the same black hair and red hair as us besides us? Before Harry and I could convince otherwise, the doors burst open with Snape, the Minister and Dumbledore. "Here they are, Minister. I found these students helping Sirius Black and it was Miss Potter who attacked me."

And I would do it again in a heartbeat. "But sir, Sirius Black is innocents!" opposed Hermione as she and Amanda approached them.

"Oh is he?" asked the Minster.

"They're telling the truth, sir. It was Scabbers!" shouted Ron.

We all spun and looked at Ron who was lying in a bed across from Rachel, both with their legs in casts. "Who is Scabbers?"

"He was my rat…well he isn't really a rat. Turns out he was Peter Pettigrew who turned into a rat that was originally my brother's pet rat until he got an owl…"

"The point is Sirius is innocent!"I cut off before Ron could continue to ramble.

"And where is your proof?"

Running around somewhere in the Forbidden Forest like the rat he is," muttered Rachel.

"You see, Minister, like I said. Black Confunded the children more than likely to help him escaped" explained Snape.

"But…"

"With the absence of any proof, then I see no reason to stop the Dementor's Kiss."

"WHAT?" we all sang in unison.

Before we could argue Sirius' case anymore, the Minister and Snape left, leaving Dumbledore with us. Once they were gone, I gritted in frustration, "What are we going to do? Any minute now the Dementor's are gonna kill him!"

"Actually they're just going to suck out his soul….which I guess isn't much better…" corrected Amanda.

"Professor, there's gotta be something you can do! Surely you know Sirius is innocent," begged Hermione.

"I do but I'm afraid there's nothing more I can do. If only we had more time."

Dumbledore's eyes seemed to speak to Hermione and Amanda. It made no sense to me. "You know the rules. I shall lock these doors behind me. Make sure you are back by then. If you are successful tonight, more than one innocent life may be saved. Three times should do the trick. I find that retracing my steps is a good way to start. Good luck."

And with that, he was gone. "What the hell was that about?" asked Ron.

I was about to ask the same thing when Amanda and Hermione grabbed Harry and me. "Sorry Rachel and Ron, but seeing as how you two can't walk…" replied Hermione.

Before I could ask what was going on, both Amanda and Hermione pulled out necklaces with hourglasses and wrapped them around our necks and theirs. In sync they turned the hourglasses three times. After the third turn, I watched as it seemed like the room went in rewind. I was confused even as everything stopped and the necklaces were removed. "What just happened?" asked Harry.

Hermione looked at the clock behind us and asked, "7:30. Where were we at 7:30?"

"Heading to Hagrid's," Amanda replied.

"Alright, let's go! Make sure you aren't seen!" hissed Hermione as she and Amanda dragged us away. We ran through the castle keeping to the shadows until we reached the stone circle where what we saw made me do a double take. There was us…all of us! But we were right here. "Is that…is that us?" asked Harry.

"This is not normal," I muttered as I was about to get a better look when Amanda pulled me back.

"You can't be seen!" she hissed.

"How is that POSSIBLE?" I asked with more emphasis.

Hermione pulled out her necklace and explained, "This is a time turner. McGonagall gave them to Amanda, Rachel and I at the beginning of term. That's how we've been getting to all our classes."

"So we've traveled back in time?" asked Harry.

"Exactly…clearly Dumbledore wanted us to change something here," continued Amanda.

We watched as past-Hermione punched Malfoy. Oh how lovely it was to see Malfoy get punched by a girl again. We laughed until we saw Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle charge towards us. Although the look on Malfoy's face would have been priceless we jumped through the open arch and hid just in time for Malfoy to run past muttering, some revenge statement. Once they were gone we waited for our past selves to run down the hill. We followed them down the hill far behind. My heart jumped for joy when we saw Buckbeak. "Look! Buckbeak is still alive!" I whispered as we hid behind the outrageously large pumpkins.

Harry peered around as Hermione realized, "Of course! Remember what Dumbledore said! More than one innocent life may be spared!"

"Well what are we waiting for?" asked Harry as he went to fetch Buckbeak.

Amanda grabbed his arm and stopped him. "The Minister has to see him first. Otherwise he'll think Hagrid set him free."

Harry nodded as we watched Hagrid give Scabbers to past-Ron. Harry was about to run but I stopped him. I wanted to catch that rat too but I had a feeling something bad would happen if our past selves saw our present or their future selves. "Here comes Dumbledore…but we aren't leaving. Why aren't we leaving?" asked Amanda.

Then Hermione threw a rock into the window, shattering the jar. Almost instantly she threw another and hit Harry, causing him to rub that spot. We watched as our past selves came out the back, forcing us to hide in the forest. As we hid, Hermione moved a branch and asked, "Is that really what my hair looks like from the back?"

A twig snapped and we hid. I could hear past-Hermione say, "I thought I saw…never mind."

Almost instantly they ran and we took their places to rescue Buckbeak. Harry and I approached and bowed and when Buckbeak bowed his head back, we tried to pull the chain but he wouldn't budge. It wasn't until Hermione bribed him with dead ferrets did we get him into the forest, nearly getting caught by the Minister. We had succeeded in one rescue. After that we watched as everyone entered the Whomping Willow and we waited for our return. Harry and I stood watch as the sun began to disappear. "Amazing night," I sighed.

Harry nodded. "I can't believe we get to go live with him after all of this," I smiled.

"But first we got to clear his name and we can't do that without Pettigrew."

"Yeah but we'll find him. I mean, he can't hide forever."

We watched as ourselves left the tree while past-Harry and past-self went to talk with Sirius. "I think we should live somewhere with a view," Harry noted.

"Maybe without a lake, though." We laughed until we watched Lupin transform. Hermione and Amanda joined us and watched as Sirius chased Lupin off followed by past-Harry and past-me. Once they disappeared we followed just in time to see Lupin advancing on our past selves. Then Hermione began to howl. Harry stopped her and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Saving your lives!" she replied before howling again. And then Lupin ran towards us. "Now he's coming fur us," Amanda muttered.

"Yeah, didn't think about that…run!"

We ran further into the forest before hiding behind a giant oak. We listened as Lupin smelled around and left. Once we left the oak, we heard a twig break and spun around in time to see Lupin staring at us, a hunger in his eyes. Harry and I pushed Hermione and Amanda behing us, ready to save them when Buckbeak came to the rescue, scaring Lupin off. With Lupin gone, I muttered, "Poor Lupin is having a tough night."

A cold chill swept over us. We looked in the sky to see hundreds of Dementors flying towards…"Sirius!" Harry said as we led the way to the lake.

We came to a stop on the otherside of the lake. The same side where Harry and I saw our parents. We smiled as Harry pointed to the spot and said, "Any minute now our parents are going to show up right there."

As we waited we watched our past selves being drained by the Dementors. "Any minute now," I replied, my heart beginning to flutter.

"No one's coming," pointed out Amanda.

We could see the point in time in which our past selves were saved but our parents were not there. Harry and I looked at each other and realized what we saw. Before any protests, we ran out and, with our wands raised, shouted, "_EXPECTO PATRONUM!"_

A stag emerged from Harry's wand and a wolf from mine. Bursts of light eminated from the Patronuses as they charged, fending off the Dementors. When they disappeared, we saw our past selves collapse. It all made sense. With the Dementors gone, we ran to Buckbeak and climbed onto his back before lift off. It all made sense…kind of. It was Harry and myself we saw. We could conjure those Patronuses because technically we already did it…although it wasn't really us…well it was…oh my head. "Drop Hermione and I off at the clock courtyard," Amanda shouted over the wind.

We flew Buckbeak down and as soon as Amanda and Hermione got off, Hermione told Harry, "They're keeping him locked away in one of the towers. Alohomora isn't going to work so use Bombardo!"

We nodded before taking flight once more. We quickly found the tower and I jumped off, running towards the cage and, pointing my wand, shouted, _"Bombardo!"_

When the door swung open, Sirius approached me and said, "Thank you."

"Thank Hermione. She told me the spell."

Sirius and I climbed onto the hippogriff and flew down to the courtyard, Sirius yelling in glee at being free and flying. When we touched down, Amanda and Hermione agreed to watch Buckbeak while we said our goodbyes. Sirius knelt before us and said, "I'm forever grateful to the both of you."

"We want to go with you," Harry replied.

"One day perhaps. For some time...life will be too... unpredictable. Besides, you're both meant to be here."

With a smile, he placed his hands on our shoulders. "You really are your father's son, Harry. And you, you're father's daughter, Elliot."

We both smiled as I placed my hand on his, grasping it gently. "Promise me something…the both of you."

"Anything," we chimed together.

"Trust yourself. No matter the challenges you face - and I fear they will be many - you'll be surprised how many times you can find the answers here," he replied, tapping our hearts.

Sirius hugged us both before approaching Buckbeak and climbing on board. Before he left, he said to Hermione, "Elliot tells me you gave her the spell to set me free."

Hermione nodded. "You really are the brightest witch of your age."

He then turned to Amanda. "Keep those two out of trouble for me."

"I'll do my best," Amanda smiled back.

With a wave, Sirius was gone. We watched him fly away until the clock began to chime. "We got to go!" Hermione ordered as she and Amanda pulled us away. By the time we reached the Hospital Wing, Dumbledore was just about to close the doors. "We did it, Professor!" Harry shouted.

Dumbledore turned to us and smiled. "I knew you could. Now inside before the Minister arrives."

We nodded and entered just as our past selves…present selves?...went back in time. Once they were gone, Dumbledore locked the door and Ron stared at us. "How is it I was talking to you there, and then you were gone and now you're over there?"

Rachel was about to intervene when the doors burst open, Snape coming in with an accusatory finger. "It was them, Minister! It had to be."

"I doubt it, Severus. The door was locked, as Dumbledore demonstrated by using the key. Someone else must have set Black fee," Fudge said.

"But…"

I smiled as Fudge sighed, "It seems we're going to have to look out for him a little longer. Albus, would it be too much trouble for a cup of tea?"

Dumbledore led Fudge out of the Wing. Before Snape left, he glared at us. I smiled and saluted him as he left, closing the door. "Can someone PLEASE explain to me what just happened?" Ron shouted.

With a smile, we all turned to look at him and laughed.

TBC…

**One more chapter to go til the end! Please R&R!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

We had left the Hospital Wing at noon the next day. Everyone was going to Hogsmeade but seeing as how Rachel and Ron had leg issues, Hermione and Amanda did not feel like going and so we decided to wander around the grounds and enjoy the sun. It was funny because we had to keep at an easy pace for Ron and Rachel since they had to hobble. As he walked down towards the Lost Lake, Hagrid approached us with a tear stained handkerchief. "'Ello you lot. Why aren' you at Hogsmeade?"

"Just wasn't feeling like going today," replied Hermione before indicating the handkerchief, "Why are you crying?"

"Oh, I know I shouldn' feel happy, after wha' happened las' night. I mean, Black escapin' an' everything' but guess what?"

We shrugged, doing our best to look curious. "Beaky! He escaped! I've bin celebratin' all night!"

"Brilliant," I said, giving Ron an elbow in the arm when he was about to start laughing.

"Yeah, I was worried this mornin', hoping Professor Lupin didn' meet 'im in the forest las' night but Lupin says he never ate anythin' las' night…."

Our looks must have been a giveaway because Hagrid continued, "Blimey, haven' ye heard? Snape was spreadin' it aroun' all mornin'. Ye see, Lupin's a werewolf and he's packin' now, o' course."

"He's packing?" asked Harry alarmed.

"Yeah. Resigned firs' thin this mornin'."

Harry and I quickly ran off as the rest of them watched us disappear. We had to talk him out of this. Lupin was, by far, the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we have ever had. Mind you, one tried to kill us and the other was a fraud, but Lupin was the best! He couldn't leave. We reached his office and saw his door opened. Inside we could see that he had packed most of his things already. Lupin was bending over his desk and looked up when we knocked. "I saw you coming," he greeted, pointing to the Marauder's Map on his desk.

"Hagrid just told us you resigned. It can't be true," I said.

"I'm afraid it is."

"Is it because of Sirius?" Harry asked.

Lupin shook his head. "No, Dumbledore managed to convince Fudge otherwise. Snape wasn't too thrilled about that, as you can imagine. So, in return, he told everyone I'm a werewolf this morning. By this time tomorrow, owls will start arriving from parents. They will not want a werewolf teaching their children."

"But you're the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher!" argued Harry.

Lupin smiled. "From what Dumbledore told me, you two saved a lot of lives last night. If I'm proud of anything I've done, it's how much you learned. Now, seeing as how I am no longer your teacher, I have no regrets on giving this back to you. Mischief managed."

The map's ink disappeared once more. "Something tells me you will put it to great use in the future. Especially you, Elliot, if the rumors about you being exactly like your father are true."

Lupin grinned as he picked up his suitcase. "What about Rachel? I mean, you're her godfather," I asked.

"I've left a letter on her bed explaining the situation. As much as I would like to have her come stay with me and be a proper godfather to her, I can't. Not with my condition."

He briefly set his suitcase down as he placed a hand on each of our shoulders. "Well, this is goodbye, Harry and Elliot. It has been a real pleasure teaching you. I feel sure we'll meet again sometime. Good luck."

After picking up his suitcase, he left the office. We watched him go, saddened and depressed before following suit. Oh how I hated Snape. We were just heading back to find the rest of the group when Dumbledore stopped us. "Excuse me, Harry, but may I borrow Elliot from you."

Harry nodded before leaving us alone. Once he disappeared, Dumbledore pulled me off to the side and said, "I've been thinking this year and I have come to the conclusion that, now that you know of who you really are, it may be best if you spend part of your summer with Harry and the Dursleys."

"What? But professor…"

"Everything is already in place. The Weasleys and Dursleys are already aware of the arrangements."

"But why? I mean, the Dursleys are vial creatures…"

Dumbledore smiled. "Perhaps in due time, Elliot. Now, I really should be going. I have a lot of things to do to prepare for the end of term feast and it seems I am again in need of a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. This may become quite a habit."

And then he was gone before I could protest. When he had vanished, I hit my head against the wall. Oh WHY did I have to go the Dursley's?

-oOo-

The tale of Sirius and Buckbeak's escape was all the rage during the final weeks and the tale became more and more stretched with each retelling. Malfoy was furious that Buckbeak had escaped. Oh it was lovely to see Malfoy not getting what he wanted. The end of term feast was brilliant. Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup. Oh the look on Snape's face. How I wish I could rub it in. Soon we found ourselves on the Hogwarts Express, pulling away from the castle and back to good old London. Hermione, Amanda and Rachel had informed us that they had dropped Muggle Studies as well and, seeing as how they weren't taking Divination either, they turned in their Time Turners and were reverting back to a normal schedule. Oh all the trouble I could have caused with those. Oh well. I had the Marauder's Map again and Dad's Invisibility Cloak. Amanda had disappeared, telling us that she needed to find Fred and have a chat with him. Hopefully they were reconciling. As we chatted in our compartment, Ron pointed out the window. "Look!"

We watched as a small grey and brown owl flew right alongside our window, looking in as if he wanted to join us. Hermione quickly opened the window and the owl flew in, perching on the table between me and Ron and stretching out his leg for Harry and me to take the letter. Once we got it off his leg, he jumped onto Ron's shoulder. I unraveled the letter and read aloud, "_Dear Harry and Elliot, I hope this finds you before you reach your aunt and uncle. I don't know whether they're used to owl post. Buckbeak and I are hiding. I won't tell you where in case this owl falls into the wrong hands. I have some doubt about his reliability, but he is the best I could find and he did seem eager for the job. I believe the Dementors are still searching for me but they haven't a hope of finding me here. I am planning to allow some Muggles to glimpse me soon a long way from Hogwarts so that the security on the castle will be lifted. There is something I never got around to telling the both of your during our brief meeting. It was I who sent you the Firebolts…"_

"Ha! See! We were right! It was from Sirius," gloated Rachel.

"Yeah but he didn't jinx them!" argued Ron. I smiled as I continued, "_Crookshanks took the order to the Owl Office for me. I used your names but told them to take the gold from my own Gringotts vault. Please consider them as thirteen birthday's worth of presents from your godfather. I would also like to apologize for the fright I think I gave you that night last year when you left your uncle's house. I had only hoped to get a glimpse of the pair of you before starting my journey north but I think the sight of me alarmed the pair of you. I am enclosing something else for you which I think will make your next year at Hogwarts more enjoyable. If ever you need me, send word. Your owl will find me. I'll write again soon. Sirius."_

Harry grabbed the second bit of parchment and held it up before reading, "_I, Sirius Black, Harry and Elliot Potter's godfather, hereby give them permission to visit Hogsmeade."_

"That will be good enough for Dumbledore," I smiled before finding the post script. "_PS, I thought your friend Ron might like to keep this owl as it is my fault he no longer has a rat."_

Ron's eyes widened as he heard the news. "For me? I love him already."

Our happy moment was abruptly interrupted by a pair of raised voices down the corridor. We each peered down the hall to see Amanda, angry as ever, yelling at a bewildered Fred…again. "I can't BELIEVE you forgot!"

"Forgot what?"

"Exactly!"

"Okay, you are really starting to confuse me. What on Earth are you talking about?"

"The plans? Remember? After Christmas we discussed plans for just the two of us this summer! You said you would come up with some ideas for the train ride home! I mean, this is EXACTLY why we've been fighting all year! You never listen to me!"

"Oi! I do listen to you! And don't go blaming this on me, Amanda. You're at as much fault as I am."

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

I smiled as I grabbed a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean and began popping them in my mouth. This was entertaining. "Whenever we're together, you only ever talk about Quidditch! Perhaps if you actually talked to me about us…"

"Oh, so it's all my fault, is it? I was trying to get your attention! Whenever we were together you always had your nose stuck in a book!"

The entire train was watching them now. I thought it would end with both of them storming off but I never expected what came next. "You know what? That's it. I've had it with all of your excuses! It's over! We're done!"

Amanda went to walk away when Fred muttered her name and grabbed her arm. "Don't touch me!" she spat at him, knocking his hand away.

When he went to stop her again she turned around and slapped him across the face. His hand found his now stinging face as Amanda stormed off in our direction. I went to see if she was alright when she pushed me back into the compartment, falling on top of Ron. Everyone looked at me as I quickly got off Ron and said, "What did I do?"

"I'm going to see if Amanda is alright," Rachel muttered as she hobbled off.

"Be careful! She might kill you!" I shouted after her. Oh my, this summer would be an interesting experience with Fred and Amanda living under the same roof. And yet, I had to miss it for a while! Why oh why did I have to give live with the Dursleys?

**End of Part 3**


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